HELEN  W.  HENDERSON 


■•«= 


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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 


i'huto  Aliiiuil 


>'OTRE-DAME:    THE  GREAT  PORTAIL. 


A  LOITERER  IN 
PARIS 


BY 

HELEN    W.    HENDERSON 

AUTHOR   OF    "A    LOITERER   IN    NEW    YORK,"     "A    LOITERER 
IN   NEW   ENGLAND,"    "THE   ART   TREASURES  OF 
WASHINGTON,"   ETC. 


NEW  SiWW  YORK 
GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,    1921, 
BY  GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


TO  MY    FRIEND 

TRUMAN    H.    BARTLETT 


518667 


NOTE 

This  book  makes  no  pretention  to  be  a  guide  to 
Paris.  It  selects,  rather,  some  few  aspects  of  Paris 
which  time  has  rendered  more  or  less  immutable  in 
the  face  of  a  changing  world,  and  aims  to  reveal  to 
the  eclectic  less  obvious  beauties — to  indicate, 
mereh\  the  hidden  wealth  encompassed  by  those 
monuments  of  remoter  time. 

The  great  fascination  of  Paris  lies  in  its  adapt- 
ability, its  responsiveness,  its  resource.  One  finds 
there  just  what  one  seeks.  The  subject,  therefore, 
however  viewed,  is  vast;  the  best  that  one  could  do 
was  to  follow  a  chosen  thread  of  the  many  that 
weave  together  in  the  elaborate  pattern.  The  plan 
was  for  one  book,  not  volumes. 

Helen  W.  Henderson. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I    Shifting  Sands 21 

II    The  Birth  Place 31 

III  The  Romans  in  Lutetia 52 

IV  Vistas:  Under  the  Cathedral       ...  69 
V    The  Ancient  Cite 89 

VI    Notre-Dame 110 

VII    Inside  the  Cathedral 149 

VIII    The  Basilica  OF  Clovis  :  Sainte-Genevieve  164 
IX    The  Basilica  of  Childebert:  Saint-Ger- 

main-des-Pres 185 

X    Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois      ....  217 

XI    Transition  Churches 239 

XII    The    Turning-Point:    Saint-Martin-des- 

Champs 260 

XIII    Dagobert's  Basilica:  Saint-Denis       .       .  269 

XIV    The  Sainte-Chapelle 291 

XV    Saint-Denis:  The  Tombs 314 

XVI    Renaissance  :  Francois  I 355 

s 

XVII    The  Louvre  of  Lescot  and  Goujon  .      .  377 

xi 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XVIII    The  Louvre  :  Development  and  Achieve- 
ment       410 

XIX    Foundations  of  the  Museum  ....  431 

XX    The  Makais  :  Henri  IV               ....  447 

XXI    Carnavalet         474 

XXII    The  Luxembourg  :  Marie  de  Medicis  .       .  485 

XXIII  Scattered  Treasures   .   ^           ....  510 

XXIV  Etpuisapres?  . 539 

Schedule  for  Two  Weeks  in  Paris    .       .  552 

Schedule  for  One  Week  in  Paris      .       .  558 

Index 559 


ILLUSTHATIONS 

Notre-Damc:  the  Great  Portail  .         .        .      Frontispiece 


PAOB 


Henri  IV  on  the  Pont-Ncuf 39 

Le  Christ  du  Parlcmcnt.      From  the  Grand  Chanibrc 

of  the  Palais  du  Justice.  Now  in  the  Louvre  .  45 
Antique   Statue   of   Juhan   the   Apostate      Now   in 

Musee  de  Cluny 55 

The  Arcature  Suspended  Between  the  Towers.  De- 
tail, Notre-Dame 115 

Monsters  Amongst   the  Towers.      Notre-Dame        .  125 

Death  of  the  Virgin.     Apse  of  Notre-Dame      .         .  126 

Satan    and    the    Devils.      Detail    from    Voussoir    of 

the  Porte  du  Jugement,  Notre-Dame    .         .         .135 

La  Porte  de  la  Vierge.  Notre-Dame  .  .  .  136 
Saint-Denis   Between    two   Angels    and    Constantin. 

Detail  from  Porte  de  la  Vierge,  Notre-Dame        .  141 

Detail  from  the  Porte  de  la  Vierge.  Notre-Dame  .  142 
Tympanum   of  the  Porte   Sainte-Anne,   Xllth  and 

Xlllth  Centuries.     Notre-Dame    .                  .         .  142 

Gothic  Statue  of  the  Virgin,  XlVth  Century.  In- 
terior Notre-Dame  .         .         .         .         .         .157 

Slaughter  of  the  Innocents  and  Flight  Into  Egypt. 

Xlllth  Century  Sculpture.      Notre-Dame    .         .157 

The  Ambulatory.     Notre-Dame        .         .         .        .158 

Statue      of      Sainte-Genevieve.       Xlllth      Century. 

From  Ancient  Eglise  Sainte-Genevieve.     Louvro     167 


xui 


xiv  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAOBt 


Chimeras:    Roman    Epoch.     From    Old    Abbey    of 

Sainte-Genevieve.      Louvre       .....      175 

Marble  Capital  Representing  Daniel  in  the  Lions' 
Den.  From  Ancient  Basilica  of  Sainte-Genevieve. 
Louvre        .         .         .        ' 176 

Pedestal  and  Group  of  Four  Figures :  by  Germain 

Pilon.    From  Church  of  Sainte-Genevieve.    Louvre     176 

Childebert.     Xlllth  Century  Statue.     From  Abbey 

of  Saint-Germain-des-Pres.     Louvre      .         .         .      187 

Saint-Gcrmain-des-Pres        ...  ...      197 

Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois :  Under  the  Porch  .  .  219 
The    Descent    from    the    Cross:    by    Jean    Goujon. 

From    Rood-loft     of    Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois. 

Louvre 220 

The  Martyrdom  of  Saint-Denis :  Attributed  to  Jean 

Maloucl,  about  1400.     Louvre        ....      271 

Interior  of  Cathedral  of  Saint-Denis :  Ascent  to  Am- 
bulatory and  Chapels      ......      271 

Interior  of  Cathedral  of  Saint-Denis :  Transept  with 

Tomb  of  Fran9ois  I  and  Claude  de  France        .      272 

La  Naumachie:  Pare  Monceau.     Constructed  from 

Ruins  of  Chapelle  des  Valois  at  Saint-Denis         .      281 

Lower  Chapel:   Sainte-Chapelle  ....      293 

Our    Mother    of    Sorrows.     From    Sainte-Chapelle. 

Louvre 293 

Interior  of  the  Upper  Chapel.     Sainte-Chapelle        .      294 

Dagobert's  Tomb.  Saint-Denis.  To  the  Right : 
Vllth  Century  Statue  of  the  Virg-in  from  Saint- 
Martin-des-Champs  ......      327 

Tomb  of  Louis  d'Orleans  and  Valentine  de  Milan. 

Saint-Denis 333 

Recumbent  Figures  of  Louis  and  Marguerite  d'Ar- 

tois.     Saint-Denis 333 


ILLUSTRATIOXS  xv 


PAUB 


Tomb  of  Louis  XII  and  Anne  de  Bretagne:  by  Jean 

Juste  of  Tours.      Saint-Denis        ....      334 

Detail  from  the  Tomb  of  Fran9ois  I  and  Claude  de 

France.     Saint-Denis       ......      334 

Reclining    Statues    of   Henri    II    and    Catherine    de 

Medicis :  by  Germain  Pilon.     Saint-Denis      .         .     347 

Urn  Made  to  Contain  the  Heart  of  Fran9ois  I:  by 
Pierre  Bontemps.  From  Abbey  of  Hautes- 
Bruyercs.     Now  at  Saint-Denis      ....      347 

Recumbent  Figures  of  Henri  II  and  Catherine  de 

Medicis :  by  Germain  Pilon.     Saint-Denis      .         .      348 

Details  from  Tomb  of  Henri  II  and  Catherine  de 

Medicis,  Saint-Denis        ......     348 

Francois  I  a  Cheval :  by  Francois  Clouet.     Louvre     357 

Fran9ois   I :  by   Jcannet   Clouet.      Louvre        .         .      358 

Fran9ois  I:  Bronze  Bust,  Anonymous.      Louvre      .      358 

Fa9ade  of  the   Louvre  of  Pierre  Lescot  and  Jean 

Goujon 379 

Detail  of  Fa9ade  of  Lescot  and  Goujon,  Called  Pa- 
vilion Henri  II.     Louvre 379 

Details  of  Fa9ade  of  Lescot  and  Goujon        .         .      380 
Portrait  of  Catherine  de  Medicis  in  1555:  Anony- 
mous.    Collection  of  Bibliotheque  Nationale        .      383 
Bust  of  Henri  II:  by  Germain  Pilon.     Louvre        .      383 
Fa9ade  of  Chateau  d'Anet :  Built  by  Henri  II  for 

Diane  de  Poitiers.     Ecole  des  Beaux-Arts    .         .      387 
Diane  Chasseresse :  Group  Made  for  Chateau  d'Anet 

by  Jean  Goujon.     Louvre        .....      388 
Detail,    Head    of    Diane:    from    Group    Made    for 

Chateau  d'Anet  by  Jean  Goujon.     Louvre    .         .      388 
The  Fountain  of  the  Innocents:  Reconstructed  from 

the  Original  of  Lescot  and  Goujon        .         .         •      389 
Frieze    of   the    Fountaine   des   Innocents:   by   Jean 

Goujon.     Original  Sculpture  in  the  Louvre        .      389 


xvi  ILLUSTRATIONS 


rAoE 


Figures  from  the  Fountaine  des  Innocents :  by  Jean 

Goujon.     From  Casts  in  the  Trocaclero        .         .      390 

Caryatids  and  Tribune:  by  Jean  Goujon.     Salle  des 

Cariatidcs,  Louvre  ......      395 

Medallion  from  the  Salle  des   Cariatidcs :  by  Jean 

Goujon.    Louvre      .......      395 

Marguerite  de  Valois  (Called  La  Reine  Margot), 
Bride  of  Henri  of  Navarre:  Drawing  by  Francois 
Clouet.     Bibliotheque  Nationale     ....      403 

Henri  of  Navarre  (Henri  IV)  :  by  Francois  Quesnel. 

Bibliotheque  Nationale    ......      403 

Catherine  de  Medicis  :  Anonymous  Drawing.  Biblio- 
theque Nationale       .         .         .         .        .         .         .      413 

La  Reine  iNIargot,  about  1573:  Anonymous  Draw- 
ing.    Bibliotheque  Nationale  .....      413 

Charles  IX,  in  1570:  Drawing  by  Fran9ois  Clouet. 

Bibliotlieque  Nationale    ......      417 

Elisabeth  d'Autrichc,  about  1570,  Wife  of  Charles 

IX:  Painting  by  Fran9ois  Clouet.     In  the  Louvre     417 

Henri  IV:  by  Barthelemy  Prieur.     Louvre        .         .      421 

Louise  de  Vaudemont,  Wife  of  Henri  III :  Drawing 

(School  of  Dumoustier).     Louvre  .         .         .      421 

Arc  de  Triomphe  du  Carrousel :  Percier  and  Fon- 
taine, Architects.     Built  by  Napoleon  in  1805      .      427 

The  Window  of  Charles  IX.     Louvre       .         .         .      427 

Fragment  of  the  Palais  des  Tuileries :  by  Philibcrt 

Delormc.     Garden  des  Tuileries      ....      427 

La  Jocondc:  by  Leonardo  da  Vinci.  From  the  Cab- 
inet   of   Fran9ois    I.     Louvre         ....      433 

Charite :  by  Andrea  del  Sarto,  Painted  for  Fran9ois 

I   at    Fontaincblcau.      Louvre         ....      434 

Charles  I  of  England :  bv  Anton  Van  Dyck,  Painted 
for  Charles  I.  "Cabinet  du  Roy  "'Louis  XIV, 
Louvre       .........      435 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xvii 

PAGB 

Laura  de'  Dianti:  by  Titian.     "Cabinet  du  Roy" 

Louis  XIV.     Louvre       ......      436 

Mystic  Marriage  of  Sainte-Catlierine :  by  Corrcggio. 

"  Cabinet  du  Roy "  Louis  XIV.  Louvre  .  .  439 
Titian's    Entombment.  "  Cabinet    du    Roy  "    Louis 

XIV.     Louvre 439 

Portrait     of     Count     Balthazar     Castiglione:     by 

Raphael.  "  Cabinet  du  Roy  "  Louis  XIV.     Louvre     443 

Detail  from  Les  Noces  de  Cana:  by  Paul  Veronese. 

Musee  Napoleon.     Louvre       .....      444 

Saint-Michel  and  the  Dragon :  by  Raphael.  "  Cab- 
inet du  Ro}' "  Louis  XIV.     Louvre      .         .         .      444 

Jeanne  de  Bourbon,  Wife  of  Charles  V.     From  the 

Convent  of  the  Celestins.     Louvre        .         .         .      449 

Isabeau  de  Baviere.  Detail  from  her  Funeral  Monu- 
ment at  Saint-Denis 449 

The  Three  Theological  Virtues  or  the  Three  Graces, 

with  Urn.      Germain  Pilon.     Louvre      .         .         .      450 

Hotel  de  Sens,  XVth  Century 459 

Place  des  Vosges :  Statue  of  Louis  XIII    .         .         .      465 

Place  des  Vosges :  the  Arcade 466 

Hotel  Sully:  Detail  from  Principal  Fa9ade  of  the 

Court 466 

Carnavalet:  Court  of  Honour 477 

Carnavalet:    Statue   of  Louis   XIV:   by    Coyzevox. 

Formerly  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville        ....      478 

Lion:  by  Jean  Goujon.     From  the  Facade  of  the 

Hotel  Carnavalet 478 

The    Palais    du    Luxembourg.     Marie    de    Medicis' 

Palace.      Salomon  de  Brosse,  Architect        .         .      487 

Marriage  of  Henri  IV  and  Marie  de  Medicis:  by 
Rubens.  Decoration  for  the  Palais  du  Luxem- 
bourg.     Louvre         ....•••      4o7 


xviii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAOG 

Henri  IV  Confides  the  Kingdom  to  Marie  dc  Medicis. 
Decoration  for  the  Palais  du  Luxembourg. 
Louvre      .........      487 

Chambre   a    Coucher.     Bed    Chamber    of   Marie   de 

Medicis.     Palais  du  Luxembourg  ....      488 

Detail  from  Crowning  of  Marie  de  Medicis :  by 
Rubens.  Decoration  for  the  Palais  du  Luxem- 
bourg.    Louvre 488 

Fontaine  de  Medicis :  by  de  Brosse.     Luxembourg 

Garden 489 

Detail,    Fontaine   de   I'Observatoire :    by    Carpeaux. 

Luxembourg  Garden 490 

Fontaine  de  I'Observatoire:  by  Carpeaux.  Luxem- 
bourg Garden  ....         ...      490 

Saint-Etienne-du-Mont 511 

Saint-Etienne-du-Mont.       Interior,      Showing      the 

Rood-loft 511 

Hotel  de  Cluny,  XVth  Century  .  .  .  .521 
Hotel  de  Cluny :  Petite  Porte  d'Entree  .  .  .522 
Hotel  de  Cluny:  a  Window 523 

Tomb    of   Mazarin :    by    Coyzevox.     Made    for    the 

Chapel  of  the  Institut  de  France.     Louvre    .         .      524 

Tomb  of  Richelieu :  by  Fran9ois  Girardon,  After  the 

Design  of  Lebrun.     Sorbonne         ....      524 

Val-de-Grace 533 

Merechal  Ney:  by  Rude.  Carrefour  de  I'Observa- 
toire   534 

La  Danse:  by  Carpeaux.     Fa9ade  of  the  Opera       .  543 

Le  Depart :  by  Unde.     Arc  du  Triomphe  de  I'Etoile  544 

Le  Penseu.r:  by  Rodin.     Pantheon     ....  547 

Lafayette:  by  Paul  W.  Bartlett        ....  548 


A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 


A  LOITERER  IN 
PARIS 

CHAPTER  I 
SHIFTING   SANDS 

With  its  fundamental  setting  practically  intact 
Paris  is  enormously  changed.  Of  this  there  can 
be  no  shadow  of  doubt,  "  no  possible,  probable 
shadow  of  doubt,  no  possible  doubt  whatever." 
What  will  newcomers  make  of  it?  I  often  ask 
myself.  How  will  those  who  never  knew  it  be- 
fore the  war  relate  this  hard,  brilliant  metropolis 
with  the  romantic,  legendary  city  of  Victor  Hugo, 
of  Balzac,  of  Du  INIaurier.  of  that  host  of  writers 
of  fact  and  fiction  who  have  made  it  their  theme? 

The  change  is,  of  course,  the  result  of  the  war; 
but  just  Avhat  makes  it  so  different  is  hard  to 
define,  for  the  change  is  subtle  and  the  face  of 
things  is  the  same.  The  boulevards  are  there, 
thronged  as  of  yore;  the  cafes  ply  the  same  busy 
industry,  despite  the  fabulous  rise  in  the  cost  of 

21 


22  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

consonnnations;  the  theatres  are  a  succes  fou;  the 
streets  are  full  of  taxis,  gliding  hither  and  thither 
with  their  restless  fares,  though  chauffeurs  are  be- 
come as  capricious  as  society  belles;  the  Place  de 
r Opera  presents  the  same  confusion  of  vehicles 
all  tangled  up  together  at  tense  crises,  and  all  get- 
ting through  somehow,  in  defiance  of  all  the  laws 
of  traffic. 

The  decorative  police  preserve  their  same  noble 
air  of  detachment  from  the  vulgar  exercise  of  law 
and  order.  Handsome  and  gentle,  lithe  of  figure 
and  slender  of  waist,  they  seem  rather  models  of 
decorum  than  agents  of  discipline,  walking  in  ab- 
straction, the  neatly  folded  cloak  thrown  over  the 
left  shoulder,  or  standing  solitary  and  aloof  from 
scenes  of  violence — calm,  disinterested  spectators. 
But  it  is  they  who  are  right,  France  understands 
their  function  differently. 

The  kiosks  bloom  Avith  the  same  flowers  and 
journals,  presided  over  by  the  same  brisk  little 
women,  as  exquisitely  coiffed  as  ever,  with  their 
own  neat  tresses,  and  guarded  over  by  the  same 
little  dogs,  who  run  about  in  careless  freedom,  ob- 
livious to  social  amenities,  and  with  insouciance 
escape  sudden  death  at  every  turn. 

During  this  year  of  quasi-peace,  Paris  has 
thrown  off  its   shabby  aspect,  due  to  five  years' 


SHIFTING  SANDS  23 

neglect  of  its  toilette;  activities  long  abandoned 
have  been  resumed,  and  the  women  are  little  by 
httle  relaxing  the  strict  black  of  their  bereavement 
and  brightening  up  at  each  change  of  the  season, 
like  butterflies  emerging  from  the  chrysalis.  Yet 
somehow  the  old  charm  is  missing,  the  joie  de 
vivre  lacks,  as  though  the  people  had  looked  stern 
reality  too  fully  in  the  face  to  be  really  diverted 
by  their  pastimes,  or  to  put  love  into  their  work. 

Constantly  shifting,  like  a  kaleidoscope,  nothing 
that  one  can  say  of  this  superficial  Paris  can  have 
more  than  a  fleeting  truth.  The  clearing-house  of 
the  war,  it  has  been  also  the  theatre  of  all  the 
phases  of  this  new  thing  called  peace.  The  popu- 
lation since  before  the  armistice  has  been  more 
than  doubled,  and  one-half  the  dwellers  in  Paris 
at  the  moment  are  provincials,  composed  of  those 
countless  refugees  from  the  devastated  departe- 
ments.  It  is  this  which  has  made  the  ciise  du 
logement  more  genuine  and  more  acute  here  than 
in  any  other  city. 

The  easy  hospitality  of  Paris  was  also  in  a 
sense  abused  by  the  tremendous  inundation  of 
foreigners  throughout  the  war.  Accustomed  al- 
ways to  a  large  floating  population  of  strangers, 
the  city  had  never  before  found  itself  the  hostess  of 
such  armies  of  semi-hostile  guests,  guests  brought 


24  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

here  by  military  necessity,  or  commercial  interests, 
or  for  mere  considerations  of  personal  safety,  not 
at  all  attracted  hither  by  a  love  of  the  city,  or  a 
predisposition  in  its  favom*,  or  because  of  its  rich 
treasm-es  of  history  and  of  art. 

One  hesitates  to  say  that  Paris  had,  up  to  the 
time  of  the  war,  been  fed  on  flattery  most  of  its 
life,  but  at  least  it  is  true  that  it  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  a  wide  and  intelligent  appreciation.  The 
great  bulk  of  tourists  who  came  annually  came  to 
learn  and  to  admire,  and  even  when,  amongst  the 
more  crass,  they  couldn't  quite  succeed,  at  least 
they  bowed  to  the  consensus  of  opinion,  they  felt 
the  fault  to  be  their  own. 

Suddenly  all  this  is  withheld.  Paris  is  invaded 
by  several  millions  of  homeless  persons,  whose  sole 
preoccupation  is  food  and  shelter;  and  by  as  many 
more  foreign  soldiers  and  "  war  workers,"  who  look 
upon  its  streets,  its  river,  its  monmnents  with  cool 
indifference ;  its  institutions  with  uncomprehending 
intolerance;  its  business  methods  with  amused  in- 
dulgence. Paris,  the  beautiful,  the  mistress  of 
poets,  of  painters,  finds  herself  scrutinized  by  mul- 
titudes of  young,  crude,  cruel,  critical,  practical, 
uncompromising  eyes,  which  see  in  the  great  cathe- 
drals only  space  takers,  in  the  old  palaces  useless 
impedimenta,   in  the   narrow,   picturesque   streets 


SHIFTING  SANDS  25 

traffic  obstructors;  eyes  which  pierce  the  mystery 
of  the  Seine  to  the  lost  power  of  its  waters,  the 
romance  of  old  neighbourhoods  to  defective  drain- 
age; eyes,  in  fine,  of  foreigners  and  aliens.  Never 
had  Paris  been  looked  upon  so  strangely. 

The  Frenchman  has  fewer  illusions  about  himself 
than  most  people.  In  the  first  shock  of  a  victory 
wliich  seemed  to  have  all  the  disadvantages  of  a  de- 
feat, these  cold,  clear-sighted  criticisms  struck 
home,  and  he  felt  himself  in  need  of  some  readjust- 
ment to  a  world  so  different  from  that  of  his  ances- 
tors, from  that  of  yesterday.  Meanwhile  every- 
body claimed  attention  at  once.  The  piper  was 
there  with  his  amazing  compte — there  were  debts 
to  pay  off,  pensions  to  be  granted,  workmen  to  be 
satisfied,  strikes  to  be  settled,  the  public  to  be 
pacified.  A  certain  system  of  adjustment  to  the 
state  of  war  had  been  worked  out  and  was  in  suc- 
cessful operation,  but  this  peace  business  upset 
everything  again  and  the  work  of  reconstruction 
was  crushing. 

To  those  of  us  who  have  weathered,  eye  to  eye, 
the  incredible  conditions  of  life  during  the  period 
immediately  succeeding  the  cessation  of  hostilities, 
the  old  Paris  that  we  knew  and  loved  in  time  of 
peace  and  plenty  seemed  at  times  to  have  fairly 
sunk  out  of  sight.     It  has  only  been  by  a  strong 


26  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

grip  on  essential  values  and  enduring  fundamen- 
tals that  one  has  been  able  to  hold  at  all  to  the 
old  and  true  idea  of  the  Gallic  city — that  one  has 
not  been  swept  off  one's  feet  by  the  tide  of  ma- 
terial considerations  that  have  from  time  to  time 
threatened  to  engulf  us. 

At  first,  though  the  riding  was  uncommonly 
rough  and  the  most  that  one  could  do  was  to  hold 
hard  while  things  in  general  went  by  the  board, 
one  had  faith  that  a  little  patience  and  courage 
would  see  one  through  what  was  merely  a  tempo- 
rary and  provisional  state  of  things  in  France,  not 
at  all  surprising  after  so  great  a  calamity.  The 
American  press  invented  a  phrase  in  which  one 
took  much  comfort — that  Europe  would  "  come 
back,"  as  a  delirious  patient  might  return  to  con- 
sciousness or  a  madman  regain  his  senses. 

One  thought  in  one's  finite  way  of  a  transition 
period,  or  a  period  of  reconstruction,  as  a  matter 
of  months  merely — one  was  frantically  occupied 
with  the  liand-to-hand  struggle  for  daily  exis- 
tence, personal  existence — and  in  a  larger  way 
one  saw  Paris  in  the  throes  of  a  superhuman  ef- 
fort to  right  itself  after  release  from  years  de- 
voted exclusively  to  the  absorbing  passion  of  war. 
All  courses  had  been  turned  to  swell  the  one  great 
torrent  of  resistance.     What  one  now  saw  was  the 


SHIFTING  SANDS  27 

bending  back  of  those  currents  into  normal  chan- 
nels, the  enormous  travail  multiplied  by  the  fa- 
tigue of  the  nation — the  vague  de  paresse  of  which 
we  heard  so  much. 

Of  the  international  politics  one  cannot  pretend 
either  a  close  observation  or  a  profound  under- 
standing; but  it  is  certain  that  the  country  stood 
more  than  once  upon  the  brink  of  revolution  and 
that  its  leaders  dreaded  a  repetition  of  the  hor- 
rors which  succeeded  the  war  of  '70,  and  pursued 
a  yielding  policy  of  mingled  tact  and  propitiation, 
preferring  to  avert  by  excessive  concession,  rather 
than  to  attempt  to  crush  by  force,  and  perliaps 
thereby  precij^itate,  an  all  too  menacing  disaster. 

To  each  country  its  difficulties.  And  besides  the 
debt  of  gratitude  which  the  nation  owed  to  the 
army,  to  a  man,  there  was  also  the  knowledge  (as 
who  indeed  does  not  know?)  of  the  limits  to  which 
the  Gallic  temperament  will  go  when  it  has 
reached  the  point  of  rupture,  when  the  last  straw 
has  been  laid  upon  its  exceedingly  patient  back. 
Certainly  the  wise  old  Cominunard  knew  how  far 
to  go  in  his  dealings  with  a  people  already  ereinte, 
to  use  their  own  forceful  adjective  describing  their 
moral  and  physical  state  as  the  result  of  the  five 
years'  tension. 

The  indefinite  extension  of  the  moratorium  with 


28  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

its  attendant  complications  between  landlord  and 
tenant,  the  fabulous  rise  of  workmen's  wages, 
with  its  reaction  ujjon  prices  in  general,  and  the 
crowning  disaster,  the  adoption  of  the  eight-hour 
day,  upsetting  the  routine  of  work  at  the  very 
moment  when  work  was  to  have  been  the  salva- 
tion of  the  country,  these  have  been  the  outstand- 
ing factors  in  the  great  metamorphosis  that  has 
taken  place  in  France.  I  doubt  if  even  the  great 
Revolution  itself  made  more  drastic  changes  in 
a  people. 

In  the  enveloping  thick  of  a  mighty  battle 
against  the  insistence  of  every  minor  annoyance, 
Paris  has  never  been  more  uncomfortable,  it  has 
never  been  more  thrillingly  interesting.  Deprived 
as  we  have  been  daily  of  each  elementary  com- 
modity  in  turn,  obliged  to  scheme  and  plot  for  the 
strictest  necessities,  forced  to  give  up,  one  after 
another,  when  it  is  not  all  at  the  same  time,  the 
comforts  and  luxuries  of  a  normal  existence,  the 
essential  charm  and  beauty,  the  poetic  depths  of 
the  loved  city,  seem  to  hold  aloof,  to  be  for  us  of 
this  hand-to-hand  conflict  with  the  hard  facts  of 
mere  physical  life,  forever  separated  by  those  cen- 
turies which  have  rolled  between  us  and  the 
builders  of  Paris  the  beautiful,  by  that  vast  gulf 


SHIFTING  SANDS  29 

of  emptiness  which  represents  for  us  now  the  in- 
terminable jDeriod  of  the  war. 

Crossing  the  Pont  du  Carrousel  frequently  dur- 
ing daj^s  sacrificed  to  dealings  with  material  ob- 
stacles, the  vision  of  Notre-Dame,  rising  there  in 
serene  majesty,  in  all  the  glow  of  its  Gothic 
beauty  against  the  eastern  sky,  usually  piled  with 
soft,  gray,  cumulus  clouds,  into  which  the  towers 
melt,  seems  so  remote  from  actuality,  from  strife 
and  struggle,  as  to  detach  itself  from  the  present, 
to  represent  a  phase  of  belief  and  an  ideality  of 
vision  so  long  ignored  as  to  have  been  completely 
forgotten. 

Secure  on  its  tiny  island,  the  birth-place  of  the 
city  of  the  Romans,  its  massive  architecture  domi- 
nates the  compactness  of  that  old,  romantic  sec- 
tion, gives  the  note  of  remoter  antiquity  to  that 
boat-like  isle,  freighted  with  the  treasures  of  an 
only  less  ancient  epoch.  Pointing  its  prow  to- 
wards the  mouth  of  the  Seine,  the  ile  de  la  Cite 
seems  to  float  upon  the  bosom  of  the  silver  river. 
Its  forward  part  is  green  at  most  seasons  with  the 
verdure  of  the  graceful  trees  which  screen  the 
heavy  masonry  of  the  Pont-Neuf.  To  the  left, 
the  composition  is  held  together  by  the  heavy  mass 
of  the   Conciergerie,   its   conical   towers   relievin'^ 


30  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

the  level  of  the  roofs,  while  to  the  right  the  flat 
facade  of  that  handsome  row  of  XVI Ith  century 
dwellings  stands  out  clear,  and  from  the  middle 
rises  high  and  fine  the  spire  of  the  Sainte-Chapelle, 
silhouetted  against  the  gray  sky,  its  line  repeated 
in  the  slender  fleche  of  Notre-Dame,  above  the 
cross.  From  the  left-hand  tower  the  fateful  siren, 
whose  four  great  mouths  announced  the  approach 
of  the  enemy's  air  raids,  has  lately  been  removed, 
the  ancient  glass  of  the  three  roses  has  been  re- 
stored, and  the  cathedral  stands  firm  and  splendid 
as  the  symbol  of  the  faith  of  its  builders,  of  the 
great  and  serious  Paris,  the  Paris  that  must  come 
back  in  time. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  BIRTH-PLACE 

Enchanting  as  it  is  from  all  points  of  view, 
it  is,  perhaps,  from  the  Pont  des  Arts,  that  simple 
footbridge  which,  thrown  like  a  mere  log  across 
a  stream,  spans  the  Seine  before  the  Institut, 
that  the  story  of  the  island  breathes  deepest  its 
note  of  inexhaustible  promise. 

Of  the  shell  of  Henri  IV  houses,  which  encloses 
the  Place- Dauphine,  the  two  at  the  point  of  the 
island  preserve,  through  restoration,  their  origi- 
nal character.  As  they  are  now,  so  was  once  the 
whole  prow  of  the  ile  de  la  Cite.  Between  them 
one  looks,  as  into  the  heart  of  a  fire,  upon  an 
enclosed  greenery,  once  part  of  the  garden  to  the 
palace  of  the  Ca?sars  established  in  Roman  times, 
where  now  is  ponderously  planted  the  Palais  de 
Justice. 

The  simile  of  the  heart  of  the  fire,  a  fire. rich 
and  glowing  with  the  embers  of  remoter  antiquity, 
never  fails  to  strike  me,  as  I  pass  now  almost 
daily  in  my  peregrinations  back  and  forth  be- 
tween the  Louvre  and  the  delightful  Bibliothcque 

31 


32  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Mazarine,  lodged  in  a  wing  of  the  Institut  de 
France.  One  seems  here  to  have  that  older  Paris 
completely  within  the  hollow  of  the  hand. 

The  vista  thus  glimpsed  of  a  ground  so  rich  in 
layers  of  history  that  one  seems  never  to  reach 
the  first  deposit,  is  one  of  the  most  inviting  of  a 
city  that  goes  in  largely  for  vistas.  Henri  IV 
himself,  so  proud  upon  his  mount  there  at  the 
head  of  the  island,  looks  in  hetween  Madame 
Roland's  house  and  its  cheerful  twin,  upon  the 
place  which  he  preserved  and  embellished. 

The  Place  Dauphine  remains  just  as  Henri  IV 
made  it,  a  cool  retreat  from  the  gaiety  of  the 
Pont-Neuf,  completed  in  his  reign.  I  could  wish, 
upon  closer  inspection,  that  there  were  less  as- 
phalt, and  I  am  sure,  as  Henri  designed  it,  what- 
ever, if  any,  carriages  entered  between  the  two 
openings  in  the  belt  of  houses  came  by  a  modest 
driveway  in  keeping  with  the  discretion  of  the 
enclosure.  The  king  named  it  in  commemora- 
tion of  the  birth  of  Louis  XIII,  the  then  dauphin 
of  France.  The  place,  accommodating  itself  to 
the  form  of  the  island,  is  triangular,  and  the 
houses  in  their  original  state  were  of  red  brick 
with  wide  markings  of  white  stone  and  steep  re- 
naissance roofs  of  blue  slate,  all  of  the  same  struc- 
ture and  symmetry.     There  were  never  more  than 


THE  BIRTH-PLACE  33 

the  two  entrances,  one  in  the  middle  of  the  base 
of  the  triangle  and  the  other  opposite  in  the  angle 
upon  the  Pont-Neuf.  The  houses  are  shallow  and 
have  two  facades  of  equal  importance,  and  the 
two  large  ones  upon  the  Rue  de  Harlay  form  acute 
angles  with  the  quays.  The  whole  scheme  is  amus- 
ing and  original.  There  is  nothing  here  to  sug- 
gest the  lugubrious  Louis  XIII,  but  the  whole 
disposition  of  affairs  exhales  that  charm  and  vi- 
vacity inseparable  from  the  memory  of  Henri  IV. 

Now  the  oldest  bridge  in  Paris,  the  Pont-Neuf, 
finished  in  1608,  was  then  the  newest — all  Paris 
adopted  it  as  the  fashionable  promenade  and  made 
it  the  scene  of  their  rendezvous.  As  the  XVI Ith 
century  advanced  it  became  the  official  passage  of 
the  royal  processions  going  to  parliament. 

Old  maps  show  two  little  islets  preceding  the 
present  ile  de  la  Cite;  they  remained  until  the  end 
of  the  XVIth  century  and  were  accredited  to 
the  abbot  of  Saint-Germain.  The  largest  lay  to- 
wards the  left  bank  of  the  Seine  and  in  various 
deeds  and  titles  is  called  I'isle  des  Juifs,  I'isle  aux 
Treilles,  I'isle  aux  Vaches,  and  isle  de  Seine.  The 
vineyards  of  this  island,  whence  the  name  lie  aux 
Treilles  (trellis),  must  have  been  considerable, 
for  an  old  act  records  six  hogsheads  of  wine  from 
the  trellises  behind  the  Palais,  given  by  the  king 


34  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

to  the  chaplain  of  Saint-Nicholas-du-Palais  in  the 
year  1160.  The  abbot  and  monks  of  Saint-Ger- 
main profited  from  the  pasturage  of  cows  there. 

The  other  island,  much  smaller,  was  called 
sometimes  I'isle  de  Bussy  and  again  I'isle  du 
Passeur  aux  Vaches. 

These  were  joined  to  the  larger  island  when 
the  Pont-Neuf  was  projected,  in  the  reign  of 
Henri  III,  and  the  bridge  rests  upon  them. 
When  the  first  pier  emerged  from  the  water,  at 
the  side  of  the  Quai  des  Grands-Augustins,  the 
king  accompanied  by  his  wife,  Louise  de  Vaude- 
mont,  and  his  mother,  Catherine  de  Medicis,  rode 
from  the  Louvre  in  a  magnificent  barge,  to  lay 
the  corner-stone.  It  bore  the  arms  of  the  king, 
the  dowager,  and  the  city  of  Paris,  and  the  date. 
May  30,  1578.  That  day  Henri  had  seen  pass, 
on  its  way  to  the  church  of  Saint-Paul  in  the 
Marais,  the  funeral  procession  of  Quelus  and  de 
Maugiron,  his  dearest  minions,  and  out  of  respect 
for  his  grief  the  bridge  bore  for  a  time  the  name, 
Pont  des  Pleurs. 

All  the  history  of  Paris  is  mingled  with  this 
old  and  admirable  Pont-Neuf.  Jacques- Androuet 
Du  Cerceau,  distinguished  under  both  Henri  III 
and  Henri  IV,  was  the  architect,  and  the  bridge 
is  spoken  of  as  his  chef-d'oeuvre.     One  of  its  at- 


THE  BIRTH-PLACE  35 

tractions,  a  tremendous  innovation,  was  an  hy- 
draulic pump,  constructed  by  Lintlaer,  a  Flemish 
engineer,  upon  one  of  the  piers  of  the  bridge — 
the  second  from  the  right  bank.  Its  mission  was 
to  distribute  water  to  the  Louvre  and  the  Tuile- 
ries,  hitherto  unprovided,  and  it  was  one  of  the 
mechanical  wonders  of  the  age.  "  Ueau  de  la 
pompe  dii  Pont-Neuf  est  auoc  Tuileries/'  wrote 
Malherbe  triumphantly,  on  October  3,  1608,  as 
though  the  impossible  had  been  accomplished. 

The  Musee  Carnavalet  preserves  the  model  of 
the  little  chateau  d'eau  in  which  the  machine  was 
housed.  The  charming  little  renaissance  building 
gave  piquancy  to  the  river  views;  its  fa9ade  to- 
wards the  promenade  was  ornamented  with  a 
group  of  sculpture  representing  Jesus  receiving 
water  from  the  woman  of  Samaria  at  Jacob's 
Well,  from  which  the  familiar  name  of  the  build- 
ing, La  Samaritaine.  A  chiming  clock  with,  says 
John  Evelyn,  "  a  very  rare  dyall  of  several  mo- 
tions," filled  the  rounded  space  above  the  group, 
and  a  little  wooden  campanile  contained  the  caril- 
lon of  bells,  which,  playing  every  hour,  charmed 
and  diverted  the  people.  Falling  into  decay,  the 
Samaritaine  was  rebuilt  in  1712,  only  to  be  again 
mutilated,  by  the  Revolution,  when  the  statues 
were  destroyed  as  too  reminiscent  of  the  evangel. 


36  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

The  Roman  fortress  or  palace,  which  formed 
the  western  buttress  of  the  antique  city  of  Julian 
the  Apostate,  became  in  later  centuries  the  palace 
of  the  kings  of  France,  culminating  in  importance 
and  grandeur  under  Saint-Louis;  and  who  is  not 
familiar  w^th  the  oft-repeated  story  of  that  sub- 
limely simple  monarch,  seated  under  the  trees  in 
the  garden  of  his  palace,  administering  a  merci- 
ful   justice   to   his   beloved    and    loving   subjects? 

Let  Joinville  tell  it  again  in  his  archaic  tongue: 

"  Je  le  vis  aucunefois  en  ete,  que  pour  delivrer 
sa  gent  il  venoit  ou  jardin  de  Paris,  une  cote  de 
camelot  vestue,  un  surcot  de  tyreteinne  sans 
manche,  un  mantel  de  ceudal  noir  entour  son  col, 
moult  bien  pigne,  et  sans  coife,  et  un  chnpel  de 
paon  blanc  sur  la  teste,  et  faisoit  estendre  tapis 
pour  nous  seoir  entour  li,  et  tout  le  peuple  qui 
avoit  a  faire  par  devant  li,  estoit  entour,  et  lors 
il  faisoit  delivrer  en  la  maniere,  que  je  vous  ai 
dit  devant,  du  bois  ds  Vincennes." 

In  still  earlier  times  a  mill  for  minting  moneys 
stood  in  this  field  belonging  to  the  Palais.  A 
street.  Rue  de  la  Monnaie,  behind  Saint-Germain- 
I'Auxerrois,  recalls  this  obscure  fact,  and  from  a 
similar  association  comes  the  name  of  the  second 
of  the  three  pepper-pot  towers  which,  standing 
along  the  Quai  de  I'Horloge,  mark  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  ancient  palace.     The  first  mint 


THE  BIRTH-PLACE  37 

must  have  been  this  Tour  d'Argent  and  the  fa- 
mous mill,  indicated  upon  the  oldest  maps  of 
Paris,  was  probably  a  modern  contrivance  for 
striking  coins  built  as  an  improvement  upon  the 
mint  of  the  Tour  d'Argent. 

The  tall,  square  tower,  the  Tour  de  I'Horloge, 
rising  almost  to  the  height  of  the  Tour  Saint- 
Jacques,  that  isolated  Gothic  fragment,  upon  the 
right  bank  of  the  Seine,  places  the  northeast 
corner  of  the  Palais.  From  its  summit  was  echoed 
the  fateful  signal  for  the  Massacre  of  Saint-Bar- 
tholomew, first  sounded  from  Saint-Germain- 
I'Auxerrois. 

The  first  of  the  pointed  towers,  coupled  to  the 
Tour  d'Argent,  long  bore  the  name  Tour  de 
Montgomery,  in  memory  of  the  captain  of  the 
Scotch  guards  imprisoned  therein  after  fatally 
wounding  Henri  II  in  a  tournament  near  Place 
des  Vosges.  Place  des  Vosges  was  then  a  royal 
park  attached  to  the  palace  of  the  Tournelles, 
built  by  Charles  V  as  a  country  house.  There,  on 
July  1,  1559,  Henri  II,  fighting  under  the  colours 
of  Diane  de  Poitiers,  broke  his  lance  against  the 
Earl  of  Montgomery,  and  Montgomery's  lance 
raising  the  visor  of  the  king's  helmet  penetrated 
his  adversary's  eye.  The  king  died  of  the  wound 
ten  days  later  at  the  Tournelles. 


38  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Ravaillac,  the  assassin  of  Henri  IV,  and  Da- 
miens,  who  attempted  the  life  of  Louis  XV,  spent 
also  their  last  days  in  this  tower.  The  Tour 
Bonhec,  the  last  and  smallest,  is  the  most  perfect 
of  the  towers,  since  it  has  preserved  its  battle- 
ments. With  the  modern  restoration  of  the  Pa- 
lais, these  names,  which  had  both  point  and 
flavour,  have  been  changed.  Montgomery  be- 
comes the  Tour  de  Cesar;  Bonbec,  the  Tour 
Saint-Louis. 

These  four  towers  then,  with  the  Sainte-Cha- 
pelle,  determine  accurately  the  perimeter  of  the 
Palais  from  the  Merovingien  monarchs  to  the 
first  of  the  House  of  Valois.  The  Palais,  thus 
simply  designated  from  time  immemorial,  meant 
the  kings'  residence  upon  the  ile  de  la  Cite, 
whereas  one  specified  Palais  des  Thermes,  chateau 
du  Louvre,  chateau  de  Vincennes.  The  occa- 
sional residence,  merely,  of  the  Merovingiens, 
who  affected  the  Thermes,  it  was  in  this  palace 
that  the  sovereigns  of  France  held  court  from  the 
Capetiens  to  Charles  V.  The  Roman  building 
appears  to  have  lasted  until  the  time  of  the  Nor- 
man invasions,  when  Count  Eudes  rebuilt  the 
palace  as  a  square  fortress,  defended  by  high 
towers,  its  facade  characterized  by  four  great 
round-headed  arches,  flanked  by  bastions,  of  which 


Photo  X 


HENRI    IV    ON    THE   PONT-NEUF. 


THE  BIRTH-PLACE  41 

the  remains  were  discovered  when  the  Cour  de 
Harlay  was  pulled  down. 

Louis  le  Gros  and  Louis  le  Jeune  both  died 
within  the  walls  of  this  palace,  and  here  Philippe 
Auguste  was  married  to  a  Danish  princess. 
Blanche  de  Castille,  mother  of  Saint-Louis,  is 
said  to  have  inhabited  the  right-hand  tower. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  XlVth  century  the 
Palais  presented  a  reunion  of  buildings  of  which 
the  oldest  went  back  to  the  epoch  of  Louis  IX 
and  the  most  recent  dated  from  the  time  of  Philippe 
le  Bel,  or  about  1313. 

The  beautiful  early  XVIth  century  Gothic 
buildings  erected  by  Louis  XII,  which  sur- 
rounded the  Cour  du  Mai,  totally  perished  in  the 
three  fires  of  1618,  1737,  and  1776.  These  fires 
also  destroyed  the  Hotel  Isabeau,  once  occupied 
by  the  unfaithful  wife  of  Charles  VI;  the  rooms 
in  which  the  Burgundians  seized  the  Comte  d'Ar- 
magnac,  Constable  of  France,  and  Chancellor 
Henri  de  Masle,  and  others;  the  Grand'  Salle,  in 
which  was  held  the  coronation  banquet  of  Henrj^ 
IV  of  England,  when  he  was  crowned  king  of 
France;  the  halls  of  Saint-Louis,  and  the  room 
in  which  that  king  spent  his  bridal  night,  and  in 
which  thereafter  the  kings  of  France  slept  upon 
the  night  of  their  arrival  in  Paris. 


42  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

The  triumphal  entry  of  the  sovereigns  upon 
their  accession  to  the  throne  was  feted  with  many- 
curious  and  beautiful  customs.  As  the  cortege 
advanced  towards  the  Palais  by  the  Grand  Pont 
"  two  hundred  dozens  of  birds "  were  set  free 
by  the  bird  market  to  add  to  the  festivity  of  the 
scene.  In  consideration  of  this  the  bird  dealers 
were  allowed  the  privilege  of  selling  their  stock 
upon  the  Grand  Pont  on  Sundays  and  fete  days, 
so  that  the  bridge  in  olden  times  came  to  be  known 
as  le  Pont  auoc  Oiseauoo.  By  the  rue  de  Lutece 
and  across  from  the  Prefecture  of  Police  is  still  a 
market  where  birds  of  all  sorts  are  for  sale  on 
fete  days  and  Sundays,  a  survival  of  the  ancient 
custom. 

Saint-Louis  gave  certain  rights  of  the  Palais  to 
a  court  of  justice,  but  Charles  V  was  the  first  to 
abandon  it  to  the  newly  created  parliament,  re- 
moving" his  court  to  the  famous  Hotel  Saint-Pol, 
under  the  protection  of  the  Bastille,  from  which 
later  developed  the  Palais  des  Tournelles.  Mean- 
while the  Louvre  was  slowly  advancing  from  the 
fortress  of  Phihppe  Auguste  into  a  residence  for 
the  last  monarchs  of  the  House  of  Valois. 

The  palace  of  antiquity  lies  buried  beneath  the 
crushing  mass  of  the  modern  Palais  de  Justice, 
rebuilt  after  the  furies  of  the  Commune  had  de- 
stroyed most   of   the   buildings   erected   after   the 


THE  BIRTH-PLACE  43 

fire  of  1776  (about  1874).  The  domain  of  the 
Caesars  forms  in  effect  the  foundations,  the  cel- 
lars, of  the  contemporary  pile.  The  Quai  de 
I'Horloge  covers  about  twenty  feet  of  those  an- 
tique constructions,  its  road-bed  lies  well  above 
the  beginnings  of  the  three  round  towers,  whose 
elevation,  even  yet  of  an  imposing  height,  be- 
speaks a  primitive  structure  of  impressive  ele- 
gance. Judged  by  them  alone  this  palace 
of  antiquity  over  which  you  walk  in  treading 
the  floor  of  the  immense  Scdle  des  Pas  Perdus, 
of  the  present  palace,  was  a  marvel  of  architec- 
ture. 

Such  fragments  as  remain  poets  have  woven 
into  a  fantastic  fabric,  which  the  cool  judgment 
of  archaeologists  has  in  turn  destroyed.  It  is  all 
so  indefinite  that  one  may  choose  for  belief  be- 
tween the  rich  legends  of  the  romanticists  and 
the  alleged  facts  of  the  materialists.  It  is  true 
that  very  little  of  the  ancient  palace  remains,  that 
the  towers  show  remorseless  reconstruction,  but 
it  is  equally  true  that  the  foundations  have  yielded 
from  time  to  time  some  thrilling  evidence  of  pre- 
historic times. 

The  Bibliothcque  Nationale  preserves  in  its 
cabinet  of  antiquities  a  quadrangular  cij)pe,  or 
truncated  funeral  column,  found  very  deep 
amongst  the  debris   of  an  ancient  edifice  under- 


44  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

lying  a  part  of  the  Palais  ruined  by  the  fire  of 
1776.  This  cip2Je  is  thought  to  date  from  the 
Ilird  century.  It  is  five  feet  ten  inches  in  height 
and  bears  no  inscription,  and  each  side  is  orna- 
mented by  the  standing  figure  of  a  divinity  in 
high  relief.  There  is  Mercury  with  all  his  attri- 
butes; a  woman  holding  a  caduceus,  possibly 
Maia,  the  mother  of  Mercury;  Apollo  with  the 
bow  and  quiver;  and  a  winged  figure  difficult  to 
identify. 

Again  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century  excava- 
tions under  the  Palais  discovered  the  remains  of 
certain   Gallo-Roman   constructions. 

Beside  the  Tour  de  I'Horloge,  along  the  quay, 
is  a  vaulted  hall,  built  upon  a  quincunx  of  col- 
umns (arranged  like  a  five-spot)  with  four  large 
chimneys  in  the  corners.  This  room  is  known  as 
the  cuisines  de  Saifit-Louis,  though  Viollet-le- 
Duc,  who  studied  the  question,  attributes  it  to  the 
period  of  Philippe  le  Bel.  What  remains  is 
thought  to  be  the  lower  floor  of  a  kitchen  built  in 
two  stories,  the  lower  serving  for  the  domestics' 
table  and  the  upper  for  the  service  of  the  king. 

Situated  between  the  twin  towers  of  the  Con- 
ciergerie,  and  opening  from  the  Salle  dcs  Pas 
Perdus,  is  the  Premiere  Chamhre  of  the  court. 
This  was  once  the  Grand'  Chamhre  of  the  parlia- 


fhotu  A.   Giraudon 


LE   CHRIST    DU    PARLEMENT. 

FROM    THt;    GRAND    CIIAM13RE   OF   THE   PAI-AIS    DU    JUSTICE. 

NOW    IX    THE   LOUVRE. 


THE  BIRTH-PLACE  47 

ment  of  Paris.  Saint-Louis  built  it,  together 
with  the  Sainte-Chapelle  and  the  Grand'  Salle, 
and  Louis  XII  restored  and  ornamented  it  with 
a  ceiling  of  golden  caissons,  walls  hung  with  blue 
velvet  and  fleurs-de-lys  in  raised  gold,  high  stained 
windows  whose  semi-translucency  bathed  the  room 
in  a  rich,  colourful  twilight,  and  at  the  end  of 
the  room  a  large  picture  with  sentences  from  the 
sacred  writings  under  a  crucifix. 

The  history  of  France  was  enacted  here.  In 
this  room  Fran9ois  I  held  his  seat  of  justice;  here 
the  marechal  de  Biron  was  condemned  to  death; 
here,  in  1614,  parliament  proclaimed  the  majority 
of  Louis  XIII;  and  here  it  was,  on  August  16, 
1655,  that  Louis  XIV,  arriving  post-haste  from 
Vincennes,  in  hunting  costume,  booted  and 
spurred,  sprang  to  the  dais  and  ordered  the  edicts 
recorded  without  discussion  in  fulfilment  of  his 
glorious  assumption :  ''  UEtat,  cest  moi." 

In  this  same  room,  by  a  reversal  of  fortunes, 
the  great-grandson  of  the  autocrat  presided  at 
the  seance  (September  12,  1715)  which  broke  the 
will  of  the  Roi-Soleil  in  favour  of  the  legitimized 
princes.  Little  Louis  XV,  aged  five  years,  but 
described  as  dejd  dccoratif,  sat  upon  cushions  em- 
broidered with  the  fleur-de-lys  under  the  surveil- 
lance  of   his    ffoverness,   Madame   de   Ventadour, 


48  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

while  at  his  feet  were  the  regent  and  the  dukes 
and  peers  of  parhament. 

Parliament  perished  with  the  advent  of  the 
Revolution.  Suspended  by  a  law  of  November 
3,  1789,  it  was  suppressed  in  August  of  the  fol- 
lowing year,  and  in  1793  the  Chamhre  Dorce  was 
transformed  into  a  Salle  cVEgalite.  At  the  end 
of  the  room,  his  back  to  the  Seine,  the  president 
of  the  Revolutionary  tribunal  was  enthroned  be- 
neath  a  bust  of  Socrates  flanked  by  those  of 
Murat  and  Lepeletier.  The  vaulted  roof  of 
Louis  XII  covered  them,  but  its  grandeur  was 
masked  and  the  escutcheons  of  royalty  had  been 
scraped  from  the  walls.  Dukes,  marshals,  bishops, 
princes,  the  king,  the  queen — all  the  ancient  no- 
bility of  France,  the  Orleanistes,  Brissot,  with  the 
Girondistes,  Saint-Just  and  the  comite  du  salut 
puhlique,  all  the  condemned  of  all  the  parties — 
IMarie- Antoinette  and  Madame  Roland,  Charlotte 
Corday  and  the  Abbesse  de  Montmorency,  the 
Dubarry  and  Madame  Elisabeth,  Hebert  and  his 
partisans,  Danton  and  his  party,  Malesherbes,  the 
marechal  de  Noailles,  Camille  Desmoulins,  Robes- 
pierre— all,  by  hundreds,  passed  this  fantastic 
mockery  of  judgment. 

Here  was  heard,  on  October  14,  1793,  the  piti- 
ful affaire  de  la  veuve  Capet.     The  trial  of  the 


THE  BIRTH-PLACE  49 

queen  of  France  occupied  twenty  consecutive 
hours,  while,  her  destiny  prejudged,  she  was  sub- 
jected to  every  insult,  accused  of  every  infamy, 
compared  to  Catherine  de  Medicis,  Messaline, 
Fredegonde!  The  seance  broke  up  at  four  o'clock 
in  the  morning  of  the  second  day  and  Marie- 
Antoinette  left  the  salle  du  trihuual,  to  regain  her 
cell  in  the  Conciergerie,  by  the  little  door  to  the 
left — it  still  exists — and  descended  the  tiny  spiral 
stairway  built  in  the  Tour  Montgomery. 

The  horrors  of  the  Revolution  swallow  up  all 
minor  miseries  of  the  Conciergerie — primitively 
the  lodge  of  the  concierge  of  the  ancient  palace, 
yet  here  the  Comte  d'Armagnac  was  murdered, 
and  here,  below  the  level  of  the  Seine,  was  the 
Souriciere,  the  mouse-trap,  of  infamous  memory. 

Under  the  Reign  of  Terror  the  unique  entrance 
to  the  Conciergerie  was  under  the  archway  to  the 
right  of  the  grand  stairway  of  the  Cour  clc  Mai, 
down  nine  worn  steps  into  a  damp  court,  and 
through  a  low  gray  door,  protected  by  a  rusty 
double  grill.  Time  has  so  softened  the  memory 
of  the  terrors  of  this  locality  that  the  restaurant 
of  the  Palais  has  had  the  heart  to  install  itself  in 
the  very  court  of  infamy,  in  the  very  anfichamhre 
of  death.  Aside  from  this  the  theatre  of  drama 
is  singularly  unchanged. 


50  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

The  Cour  de  Mai — the  name  derived  from  the 
maypole  annually  erected  in  the  court  of  the 
Palais  by  the  lawyers'  clerks — thus  became  the 
arena  for  the  daily  spectacle  of  horror  as  the  carts 
delivered  the  "  suspects "  and  called  again  for 
the  condemned,  who  came  through  the  little  gray 
door,  from  the  dungeons,  into  the  tiny  court,  and 
mounted  the  steps  to  be  carted  away  to  the  guil- 
lotine. If  the  steps  of  the  Palais  were  crammed 
with  spectators,  the  top  of  the  wall  itself,  over  the 
arch,  was  alive  with  a  howling  and  vociferating 
mob,  which  hurled  filthy  projectiles  and  insults 
at  the  unfortunates,  who,  their  hair  cut  as  much 
for  the  profit  of  wig  makers  as  the  convenience 
of  the  blade,  their  hands  tied  behind  them,  were 
made  to  wait  in  this  pillory  while  the  hourreau, 
clad  in  a  long  redingote  and  coiffed  with  a  top 
hat,  identified  the  victims  with  his  lists  before  ty- 
ing them  to  the  benches  or  sides  of  the  cart  facing 
the  crowd  which  ran  with  the  wagons  to  the  Con- 
corde. 

With  Balzac  one  regrets  that  the  Conciergerie 
has  invaded  the  palace  of  the  kings;  its  hideous 
recollections  overlie  every  other  consideration. 
"  The  heart  bleeds,"  says  the  romanticist,  "  to 
see  how  they  have  shaped  jails,  keeps,  corridors, 
lodgings,   dungeons  without  light  or  air,   in  this 


THE  BIRTH-PLACE  51 

magnificent  composition  where  Byzantine,  Ro- 
man, Gothic — these  three  faces  of  ancient  art  have 
been  joined  together  by  the  architecture  of  the 
Xllth  century.  This  palace  is  to  the  monu- 
mental history  of  France  of  the  first  epoch  what 
the  chateau  of  Blois  is  to  the  monumental  history 
of  the  second  period.  Just  as  at  Blois,  in  the 
court,  you  may  admire  the  castle  of  the  counts  of 
Blois,  of  Louis  XII,  of  Francois  I,  of  Gaston; 
so  in  the  Conciergerie  you  find,  in  the  same  en- 
closure, the  character  of  the  first  dynasties  and 
in  the  Sainte-Chapelle  the  architecture  of  Saint- 
Louis."     (Scenes  de  la  vie  parisienne.) 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  ROMANS  IN  LUTETIA 

Of   all   the    legends    concerning   the    origin   of 
Paris  the  most  charming  is  that  intrepid  fabrica- 
tion of  the  Moyen  Age  which  names  Francus,  son 
of  Hector,  father  of  France  and  founder  of  its 
principal  city,  called  for  his  beautiful  uncle,  Paris. 
The  story,  with  all  its  amusing  detail,  may  be 
followed  in  the  transcription  by  Jehan  Bouchet, 
of  Poitiers,  who,  writing  in  the  early  XVIth  cen- 
tury, gives  a  complete  genealog>^  of  the  descent 
of    "  Pharamond,"    the    mythical     "  first     Mero- 
vingien,"  from  Astynax   (Francus),  who,  thrown 
over  the  walls  of  Troy  by  Ulysses,  escaped  in  a 
sack  to  Hungary,  becoming  king  of  the   Sicam- 
bres,  whose  domain  extended  to  the  banks  of  the 
Rhine.     Another  version  establishes  the  grandson 
of  Priam  as  king  of  Gaul  and  founder  of  Troyes, 
in  Champagne,  from  which  he  came  to  plant  upon 
the  island  of  the  Seine  the  city  of  the  Parisians. 

Whether  Bouchet,  the  transmitter  of  this  bur- 
lesque history,  was  a  practical  joker,  or  merely  a 
naif    chronicler,    we    can    only    surmise.      At    all 

52 


THE  ROMANS  IN  LUTETIA        53 

events  Ronsard  takes  the  fable  as  the  basis  of  his 
epic  poem,  La  Franciade,  and  so  it  passes  into 
literature. 

Leaving  to  the  realms  of  fiction  such  pleasing 
fancies,  such  scant  knowledge  as  we  have  of  the 
primitive  settlement  engirdled  by  the  Seine  comes 
from  the  note-books  of  the  Roman  emperors  who 
encountered  it  during  the  conquest  of  Gaul,  and 
who  made  it  during  the  subsequent  years  of  occu- 
pation a  place  of  residence. 

To  the  best  of  belief  the  Parisii,  as  the  Romans 
name  them,  were  a  Celtic  people  of  comparatively 
small  importance  who  occupied  a  stronghold  upon 
the  Seine  at  the  period  of  Roman  conquest. 
Julius  Caesar  found  them  here  upon  his  arrival  with 
his  conquering  host  from  58  to  51  B.C.,  so  that 
it  was  in  the  first  century  before  our  era  that  the 
little  tribe  figured  for  the  first  time  upon  the  his- 
toric scene. 

Their  town,  called  Lutetia  Parisiontm  (Lutetia 
of  the  Parisians),  was  situated,  says  Caesar,  "on 
an  island  of  the  river  Sequana  [Seine]."  There 
are  writers  who  say  that  Julius  Ca?sar  built  the 
Grand  Chatelet,  the  first  great  gateway  of  the 
island  city  on  the  north  bank,  but  it  seems  fairly 
certain  that  while  he  conquered,  pillaged,  and  de- 
stroyed extensively  he  built  no  edifice  in  Gaul. 


54  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Beside  the  Palais  in  the  Cite,  the  successors  of 
the  greatest  Roman  built  a  country  seat  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Seine  not  far  from  the  present 
Sorbonne,  a  palace  of  vast  extent  and  in  the 
Roman  manner  with  baths,  whose  gardens  and 
dependances  extended  from  the  Mont  Locutitius 
(now  Sainte-Genevieve)  to  the  banks  of  the 
Seine.  Something  of  the  scale  of  magnificence 
of  this  Palais  des  Thermes  may  be  judged  from 
the  great  frigidarium,  which  stands  in  a  state  of 
remarkable  perfection  after  sixteen  centuries,  de- 
voted chiefly  to  neglect  and  abuse,  abutting 
sharply  upon  the  Boulevard  Saint-Michel. 

In  this  palace  the  emperors  went  into  winter 
quarters.  Constantius  Chlorus  is  thought  to  have 
been  the  builder;  he  lived  fourteen  winters  in 
Lutetia;  while  it  is  historically  certain  that  Julian 
the  Apostate  lived  here  and  that,  in  306,  his  troops 
proclaimed  him  emperor  in  the  camp  without  the 
Palais  des  Thermes. 

The  emperor  Julian,  in  his  Misopogon,  describ- 
ing Paris  as  his  cara  Lutetia,  found  it  "  situated 
on  a  small  island  entirely  surrounded  by  the 
waters  of  a  river,  and  reached  by  two  wooden 
bridges;"  from  which  we  judge  that  for  several 
centuries  under  the  Romans  the  stockaded  island 
village  did  not  grow  beyond  its  natural  boundary. 


Photo  A.  Oiraudon 


ANTIQUE   STATTT,   OF   JFLIAN   THE  APOSTATE,   PROCLAIMED   EMPEROB 
IN   360  A.D.,    IN   THE  PALAIS    DES    THERMES 
NOW   IN    THE   MtJSEE   DE   CLUNY. 


THE  ROMANS  IN  LUTETIA         57 

nor  did  it  compete  in  importance  with  such  Gallic 
towns  as  Aries,  Nimes,  Marseilles,  Bordeaux,  or 
Lyon. 

The  name  Lutetia  was  of  unknown  origin.  For 
some  it  indicated  the  "  city  of  crows,"  for  others 
"the  muddiest"  city;  but  in  any  case,  whatever 
its  derivative,  the  name  of  the  town  was  soon  dis- 
placed by  the  name  of  the  tribe,  and  Lutetia  be- 
came Parisea  Civitas,  the  city  of  the  Parisians, 
and  so  Paris. 

At  first  the  river  formed  the  highway,  then  the 
two  bridges,  which  Julian  describes,  tied  the  vil- 
lage to  the  mainland,  one  to  the  right,  the  other 
to  the  left  bank  of  the  Seine,  standing  where  are 
now  the  Pont  au  Change  and  the  Petit  Pont,  and 
these  two  bridges  put  the  city  into  communication 
with  the  two  principal  roads  built  by  the  Romans, 
one  leaving  Paris  for  the  northern  provinces  and 
the  coast,  the  other  bearing  away  towards  Orleans 
and  Rome. 

The  old  Route  d'Orleans,  upon  which  lay  the 
country  seat  of  the  Caesars,  lies  buried  under  the 
present  Rue  Saint-Jacques,  as  was  proven  when, 
in  1842,  that  ancient  street  of  old  Paris  was 
opened  to  a  considerable  depth  for  the  laying  of 
a  sewer,  and  the  antique  Roman  paving,  com- 
posed  of  enormous   blocks   of   sandstone,   irregu- 


58  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

larly  laid  (such  as  one  still  sees  in  the  city  of 
Autun)  was  exposed.  A  dozen  of  these  blocks 
were  taken  up  and  deposited  in  the  garden  of  the 
Palais  des  Thermes  as  part  of  its  contemporary 
collection. 

That  the  soil  of  Paris  covers  many  interesting 
souvenirs  of  the  Roman  occupation  and  conquest 
has  been  proven  over  and  over  again  when,  in 
digging  foundations,  laying  drains,  or  whatever, 
the  workman's  pick  has  encountered  fragments 
of  edifices,  portions  of  walls,  ruins  of  houses, 
tombs,  temples,  altars  to  pagan  deities,  statues, 
inscriptions,  coins.  Before  the  XVIIth  century 
such  discoveries,  if  made,  were  unrecorded,  but 
since  that  time  the  city  has  taken  care  to  preserve 
such  precious  fragments  of  a  remote  civilization, 
and  keeps  at  the  Louvre,  the  Bibliotheque  Na- 
tionale,  the  Cluny  Museum,  or  again  some  few 
at  the  Musee  Carnavalet,  a  large  and  growing 
collection  of  treasures  found  in  the  soil  of  Paris. 

From  these  discoveries  it  has  been  possible  to 
trace  the  extent  and  disposition  of  the  Romanized 
city  in  which  Julian  the  Apostate  loved  to  dwell. 
The  Palais  upon  the  prow  of  the  island  was  bal- 
anced by  a  Temple  to  Jupiter  raised  by  the  boat- 
men of  Paris,  in  the  1st  century  of  our  era,  upon 
the  eastern  extremity  of  the  city,  where  later  was 


THE  ROMANS  IN  LUTETIA         59 

raised  the  first  Christian  church.  Its  remains 
were  discovered  in  1711,  in  digging  under  the 
choir  of  Notre-Dame,  and  have  been  transported 
to  the  Salle  des  Thermes. 

These  remains  consist  of  nine  large  blocks  of 
stone  carved  with  reliefs  and  inscriptions.  One 
of  them,  of  which  three  faces  are  charged  with 
reliefs,  is  inscribed  on  its  fourth: 

TIB.    CAESAEE,   AUG    JOVI   OPTUMO 
MAXSUMO.  .  .  M.  NAUTAE.  PARISIACI 
PUBLICE   POSIERUNT. 

Traced  by  a  clumsy  hand  the  letters  omitted 
were  afterwards  added  above  the  words  to  which 
they  belonged.  The  inscription  is  supposed  to 
mean:  Under  Tiberius  Caesar  Augustus,  the  Pa- 
risian boatmen  publicly  erected  this  altar  to  the 
great  and  good  Jupiter.  As  it  was  customary  in 
the  first  centuries  of  the  new  faith  to  supplant 
idolatrous  temples  by  Christian  churches  there  is 
little  doubt  that  the  first  church  erected  on  the 
site  of  Notre-Dame  was  deliberately  placed  over 
the  demolished  Temple  of  Jupiter. 

In  close  proximity  to  the  Palais  des  Thermes 
was  the  Roman  camp,  placed  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  protect  the  palace.  It  occupied  in  great  part 
the    declivity    where    is    to-day    the    Luxembourg 


60  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Garden.  Contemporary  writings  had  indicated 
the  existence  of  this  camp,  or  barracks,  near  the 
palace  of  Constantius  Chlorus,  but  it  was  not 
until  the  beginning  of  the  XlXth  century  that 
its  exact  position  was  defined. 

The  first  indication  of  its  probable  location  was, 
in  1615,  when,  in  throwing  up  the  earth  for  the 
foundations  of  the  Luxembourg  Palace,  a  bronze 
figure  of  Mercury  was  found;  and  three  centuries 
later,  when  the  eastern  part  of  the  garden  was 
terraced,  important  researches  and  discoveries 
were  made.  Then  cooking  utensils  and  table  im- 
plements were  uncovered  in  abundance  as  well  as 
a  great  number  of  vases,  whole  or  in  fragments 
and  of  all  sizes  and  dimensions,  plates,  spoons, 
forks,  and  the  handles  of  knives.  Many  objects 
strictly  military  in  character  belonging  to  the  cos- 
tume of  a  soldier,  such  as  hooks,  buckles,  or  fibu- 
la, buttons,  ornaments,  harness,  and  scabbards, 
were  also  found. 

In  1836  and  1838  new  discoveries  were  made 
in  digging  to  make  additions  to  the  Luxembourg 
Palace  for  the  installation  of  the  House  of  Peers, 
and  in  digging  the  foundations  of  the  orangerie 
to  the  west  of  the  palace.  Amongst  the  mass  of 
fragments  then  found  was  a  cachette  made  of  five 
Roman  bricks  with  a  cover  of  thin  silver,  hand- 


THE  ROMANS  IN  LUTETIA         61 

somely  embossed.  This  cachette  contained  seven 
hundred  large  bronze  medals  of  twenty-five  Ro- 
man emperors  from  Gall)a  to  Mam^ea,  and  two 
hundred  small  silver  medals  from  Augustus  to 
Volusian,  from  which  it  was  presumed  that  the 
hiding  place  was  closed  up  about  the  Ilird  cen- 
tury. 

Further  excavations  incident  to  the  opening  of 
the  Rue  Soufflot,  in  1848,  revealed  substructures 
in  which  were  recognized  the  remains  of  the  castra 
stativa,  or  barracks,  of  the  Gallo-Roman  garrison 
which  is  supposed  to  have  extended  from  the 
Luxembourg  Gardens  to  the  Rue  Monge,  an  old 
street  which  lies  well  behind  and  below  the  Pan- 
theon. 

Roman  tombs  were  found  in  the  heights  of  the 
Saint-Jacques  quarter,  remains  of  an  ancient  pot- 
tery manufacture  were  identified  under  the 
foundations  of  the  Pantheon,  and  in  1870-1883 
excavations  beyond  the  Rue  Monge  disclosed  a 
small  amphitheatre  of  the  second  or  third  century. 
"  On  the  east  side  of  the  Mont  Sainte-Gene- 
vieve,"  says  Delaure,  writing  the  history  of  Paris, 
"  was  a  site  where  one  sole  deed  of  1284  gave  the 
name  '  Clos  des  Arenes.'  This  gave  rise  to  the 
opinion  that  an  amphitheatre  had  existed  there, 
but  nothing  remains  to  estabhsh  the  fact."     The 


62  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

historian  never  knew  of  its  existence  but  is  care- 
ful to  record  the  exact  location  of  the  site,  as 
lying  between  a  house  formerly  called  "  La  Doc- 
trine Chretienne  "  and  the  Rue  Saint-Victor. 

When  I  first  saw  this  arena,  in  1905,  about  half 
of  it  only  had  been  uncovered,  while  old  houses 
built  over  the  other  half  stood  undisturbed,  an  odd 
and  exceedingly  picturesque  mingling  of  antiquity 
and  modernity  tucked  away  in  an  old,  dilapidated 
quarter  of  Paris,  far  from  the  track  of  the  beau 
monde.  Now  the  whole  amphitheatre  has  been 
uncovered  and  so  unsparingly  restored  as  to  have 
lost  its  convincing  manner.  On  the  night  of  the 
famous  Fom-teenth  of  July,  1919,  as  part  of  the 
memorable  peace  celebration  of  that  day,  the 
rehabilitated  and  rejuvenated  amphitheatre  of 
the  Romans  was  inaugurated  by  a  performance 
of  L,e  Cid,  by  the  artists  of  the  Comedie  Fran- 
9aise;  but  whether  owing  to  the  excessive  restora- 
tion of  the  place  itself,  or  to  the  overdone  tradi- 
tionalism of  the  French  actress,  in  particular, 
or  the  incongruity  of  the  audience,  or  the  difficul- 
ties made  about  entering,  or  whatever,  the  per- 
formance, to  me  at  least,  failed  absolutely  of  ef- 
fectiveness, and  with  the  best  of  predispositions  in 
its  favour  I  lost  completely  the  sense  of  every 
century  but  my  own,  with  its  fatigues  and  horrors 


THE  ROMANS  IN  LUTETIA         63 

SO  barely  distanced.  The  unending  douleur  of 
the  heroine  seemed  in  bad  taste  after  all  we  had 
been  through,  and  one  felt  disconcerted  by  her 
lack  of  reticence. 

Nothing  was  spared  to  make  the  Palais  des 
Thermes  a  splendid  residence.  A  Roman  aque- 
duct brought  water  from  the  springs  of  Rongis, 
far  from  the  centre  of  Paris.  Subterranean  dur- 
ing the  greater  part  of  its  course,  it  traversed  the 
valley  of  Arcueil  along  a  suite  of  high  arcades  of 
which  time  has  respected  a  few  piers,  of  fine  archi- 
tecture. The  antique  aqueduct  has  been  com- 
pletely recognized  throughout  its  extent  and  is 
accompanied  by  a  modern  conduit  which  brings 
to  Paris  the  waters  of  the  same  source. 

The  Gallo-Roman  palace  was  abandoned  at  the 
approach  of  the  Norman  invasion.  It  offered  less 
security  than  the  Palais  of  the  Cite,  sheltered  be- 
hind a  wall  and  protected  by  its  natural  moat,  the 
two  arms  of  the  Seine.  About  the  end  of  the 
Xllth  century,  however,  Jean  de  Hauteville  still 
speaks  in  pompous  language  of  the  summits  of 
this  palace  "  lost  in  the  skies,"  while  its  founda- 
tions "  invaded  the  empire  of  the  dead." 

Philippe  Auguste  gave  the  palace  to  Henri,  his 
chamberlain,  in  1218;  and  in  1360,  Pierre  de  Cha- 
ins, abbot  of  Cluny,  acquired  what  still  stood,  for 


64  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

the  wall  of  Philippe  Augiiste,  which  should  have 
protected  the  Palais  des  Thermes,  on  the  con- 
trarv  diminished  its  extent  and  demolished  sev- 
eral  dependances  in  its  path.  During  the  interval 
between  its  ownership  by  kings  and  its  purchase 
by  the  abbots  of  Cluny  the  palace  underwent 
many  changes,  of  which  the  most  interesting  was 
the  erection  of  hanging  gardens,  similar  to  those 
of  Babylon,  established  above  the  solid  Roman 
arches.    One  of  these  gardens  subsisted  until  1820. 

Upon  the  site  of  the  ancient  palace  two  other 
abbots  of  Cluny,  Jean  de  Bourbon  and  Jacques 
d'Amboise,  built  the  sumptuous  XVth  century 
hotel,  one  of  those  rare  civil  edifices  which  bear 
witness  to  the  architectural  taste  of  its  epoch.  In 
its  perfect  state  of  preservation  it  offers  a  charm- 
ing specimen  of  the  living  quality  in  domestic 
architecture  which  expanded  at  the  beginning  of 
the  XVth  century  and  was  far  from  being  ex- 
hausted at  the  dawn  of  the  Renaissance.  As  rep- 
resenting the  transition  between  Gothic  and  Re- 
naissance feeling,  this  Hotel  de  Cluny  belongs 
properly  to  later  ramblings,  but  since  the  existing 
remnant  of  the  Palais  des  Thermes  cannot  be 
visited  now  without  passing  through  it,  curiosity 
must  be  in  part  satisfied. 

The  hotel  was  the  town  residence  of  the  abbots 


THE  ROMANS  IN  LUTETIA         65 

of  Cluny.  But  as  they  came  seldom  to  Paris, 
their  palace  was  from  time  to  time  let  to  various 
distinguished  persons:  thus  Marie  d'Angleterre, 
the  widowed  bride  of  Louis  XII,  came  here  to 
pass  her  period  of  mourning  and  was  here  mar- 
ried to  Charles  Brandon,  Duke  of  Suffolk.  In 
this  hotel  Franc^ois  I  married  his  daughter  Made- 
leine to  James  V  of  Scotland.  The  Cardinals  of 
Lorraine,  the  princes  of  Guise,  the  due  d'Aumale 
sojourned  here  during  their  trips  to  Paris.  After- 
wards the  hotel  was  lived  in  by  actors,  then  by 
nuns  of  Port  Royal,  and  under  the  Revolution  be- 
came  national  property  and  served  as  a  place  of 
public  meetings  for  this  quarter.  In  the  early 
part  of  the  XlXth  century  it  was  bought  by  du 
Sommerard,  an  archaeologist,  who  enriched  it  with 
his  precious  collections,  the  nucleus  of  the  present 
museum. 

Meanwliile  as  the  Hotel  de  Cluny  waxed  glori- 
ous the  Palais  des  Thermes  was  neglected  and 
abandoned.  Its  monumental  ruin,  the  frigida- 
rium,  served  as  a  storage  house  for  a  barrel 
maker,  to  which  base  use  its  architecture  lent  it- 
self marvellously.  If  it  was  not  torn  down  it  was 
probably  because  of  the  expense  and  inconven- 
ience of  demolishing  so  stalwart  a  structure;  but 
in  order  that  it  should  not  offend  the  eye  of  the 


66  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

distinguished  occupants  of  the  Hotel  de  Cluny, 
the  hanging  gardens  of  which  we  have  spoken 
were  built  over  the  roof.  The  Roman  vaulting 
supported  on  its  back  a  deep  bed  of  earth  divided 
into  flower-beds  and  kitchen  gardens,  where  apple 
trees  grew  six  feet  high,  and  lettuces  and  lilies 
flourished.  One  walked  out  into  this  garden 
through  the  rooms  of  the  second  floor  of  the  ab- 
batial  residence  in  indifference  if  not  in  ignorance 
of  the  august  foundations  whose  robust  constitu- 
tion alone  saved  them. 

Louis  XVIII  was  the  first  monarch  of  France 
since  the  Merovingiens  to  take  an  interest  in  their 
fate.  He  was  a  lettered  prince,  capable,  so  says 
tradition,  of  reciting  whole  books  of  Virgil  and 
odes  of  Horace,-  from  which  perhaps  came  his 
taste  for  Roman  antiquities.  At  any  rate  in  1819 
through  his  intervention  the  Thermes  was  rescued, 
the  gardens  demolished,  and  the  old  monument 
leased  by  the  city  and  a  certain  sum  voted  for  the 
restoration  of  the  walls.  Afterwards  it  became 
the  property  of  the  municipality,  and  when,  in 
1842,  upon  the  death  of  du  Sommerard,  the  hotel 
of  the  abbots  of  Cluny,  with  the  collections  it  con- 
tained, was  purchased  by  the  state,  the  Thermes 
was  presented  by  the  city,  and  the  whole  united 


THE  ROMANS  IN  LUTETIA         67 

in  the  present  Musee  de  Cluny  that  forms  one  of 
the  series  of  national  museums  of  France. 

Fragments  of  Roman  construction  may  be  rec- 
ognized throughout  the  Hotel  de  Cluny,  especially 
where  it  joins  the  Thermes;  its  west  wing  rests 
against  the  antique  wall.  It  is  through  this  wing 
that  one  must  pass  to  enter  the  great  hall  of  the 
Roman  palace,  now  devoted  to  an  appropriate 
collection  of  antique  debris  contemporary  with 
itself  or  culled  from  the  demolition  of  innumer- 
able monuments  of  the  Moyen  Age. 

All  bare  and  despoiled  as  it  is  the  Salle  des 
TJierines,  with  its  high  vaultings,  its  archivolts,  its 
arcades  and  niches,  still  commands  admiration  and 
respect.  On  the  north  side  is  the  piscine,  or  swim- 
ming pool,  its  flooring  lower  down;  and  on  the 
other  side  arcades,  now  walled  in,  communicated 
with  other  rooms,  and  great  niches  show  plainly 
where  canals  brought  water  to  the  baths  from  the 
springs  of  Rongis.  Of  the  tejndarium  nothing 
remains  but  the  ruined  walls ;  it  was  bordered  with 
big  niches  and  arranged  as  a  hemicycle. 

Presiding  over  the  exhibits  exhumed  from  the 
soil  of  Lutece  is  a  statue  of  Julian  the  Apostate, 
found  in  a  marble  cutter's  yard  in  Paris  at  the 
time  that  the  ruins  of  the  Thermes  were  about  to 


68  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

be  rescued  from  their  misery  and  abandon.  No 
one  knew  its  origin,  whether  it  dated  from  the 
Roman  occupation  or  whether  it  had  been  brought 
in  under  Fran9ois  I,  who  had  a  taste  for  antique 
sculptures  and  who  started  the  collections  at  the 
Louvre;  but  its  antiquity  has  never  been  doubted. 

We  are  here  then,  at  last,  under  vaultings  and 
within  walls  which  date  back  to  the  time  of  the 
Cfesars,  in  the  very  oldest  building  of  Paris,  and 
it  is  here,  par  excellence,  that  the  most  intelligent 
study  of  the  city  should  begin,  by  reason  of  its 
origin  and  its  destiny. 

At  first,  perhaps,  as  one  looks  upon  these  bare 
stone  walls  and  upon  the  fragments  of  primitive 
monuments  with  which  the  room  is  furnished,  one 
feels  a  chill  as  of  the  abstract  over  all,  a  remote- 
ness too  elusory  to  offer  any  point  of  contact. 
But  not  so.  One  has  only  to  read  a  very  little 
into  antiquity  to  find  how  intensely  human  it  all 
was.  And  as  one  learns  even  a  little  about  that 
past  which  the  intense  vitality  of  the  French  has 
from  time  to  time  ruthlessly  swept  aside  in  the 
achievement  of  its  ever  modern  purpose,  this 
museum,  thus  housed  within  its  own  chief  exhibit, 
becomes  of  absorbing,  living  interest,  and  con- 
stantly draws  us  by  its  extraordinary  verity  and 
the  fecundity  of  its  inspiration. 


CHAPTER  IV 
VISTAS:   UNDER  THE  CATHEDRAL 

Notre-Dame,  from  whatever  angle  one  may 
take  it,  reveals  itself  with  a  certain  magnificent 
surprise  to  which  one  never  grows  stale.  Its 
Gothic  grandeur,  rising  from  the  smooth  surface 
of  the  Parvis,  presents  the  substantial,  enduring 
bulk,  as  if  in  sum  total,  of  the  primary  factors  of 
the  medieval  city  reared  upon  the  foundations  of 
the  remoter  Roman  city,  moulded  into  indomita- 
ble relation  to  the  modern  city,  which  it  dwarfs 
and  minimizes,  the  while  protecting,  and  su- 
premely holds  at  bay. 

As  characterizing  Paris,  compare  it  with  what 
you  will,  it  never  yields  a  jot  of  its  importance. 
The  willowy  Eiffel  Tower,  which  from  the  west- 
ern extremity  of  the  Champ  de  Mars  spans  lightly 
prodigious  spaces  and  lifts  its  head  to  vertiginous 
heights  as  the  emblem  of  a  frivolous  experiment, 
is  no  more  marvellous  a  feat  of  engineering  than 
are  these  flying  buttresses  which  support  the  apse 
of  the  Xllth  century  construction  of  the  cathe- 
dral; the  M'hite  towers   of  the   basilica  crowning 

69 


70  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Moiitmartre  reflect  indeed  a  spectacular  image  of 
Paris  in  pretty  despair  over  her  sins;  but  Notre- 
Dame,  and  Notre-Dame  only,  clutches  and  holds 
the  vitals  of  the  past,  the  present,  and  the  future, 
sinks  its  roots  deep  into  the  history  of  the  soil, 
reflects  the  temper  of  the  people,  embodies  the 
power,  and  the  impotence,  of  kings  and  bishops, 
dominates  the  mob,  and  succours  the  masses. 

The  blood  of  revolutions  has  stained  its  portails, 
profane  hands  have  pillaged  and  restored  its 
sculpture,  have  broken  its  ornaments,  have  cast 
away  its  glass,  have  sacked  its  sanctuary;  these 
things  are  but  incidents.  The  silhouette  is  main- 
tained; so,  by  a  miracle,  are  most  of  the  salient 
features,  the  more  important  details;  so,  by  its 
powerful  dimensions,  the  eloquence  of  its  en- 
semble, its  Gothic  mystery  and  imagery,  does  the 
great  facade  inspire  awe,  if  not  a  sense  of  terror, 
a  terror  of  the  gravity  of  life  and  death  and 
eternity,  an  emotion  as  if  in  the  awful  presence 
of  religion  made  manifest.  And  this,  though, 
upon  inspection,  carried  out  in  the  literal  stories 
of  the  embrasures  and  tympanums  and  piers  of 
the  great  doors,  not  at  all  the  effect  of  such  puerile 
devices,  whose  quaintness  touches  one  in  quite 
another  way,  but  as  the  sublime  effect  of  the 
architecture  itself. 


VISTAS:  UNDER  THE  CATHEDRAL    71 

Ah,  but  this  first  aspect  of  the  great  cathedral 
is  a  thing  to  conjure  with.  To  one  who  loves  it 
and  who  loves  Paris,  there  are  whole  mornings, 
afternoons,  and  evenings  to  be  devoted  to  nothing 
more  than  giving  one's  self  the  ever  new  thrill  of 
coming  upon  it,  as  it  were,  unawares.  Approach- 
ing it  squarely  from  the  remotest  spot  along  the 
Seine  from  which  its  blunt  towers  and  its  delicate 
fleche  are  visible,  until  one  comes  full  upon  its 
glory  from  the  Place  Saint-Michel,  or,  crossing 
the  Pont  de  la  Cite,  steps  out  upon  the  Place  du 
Parvis — that  is  fine  enough,  impressive  enough  in 
all  conscience.  But  there  are  twenty  secret  routes 
by  which  one  may  steal  upon  it,  circuitous  ways 
through  shabby  quarters  and  narrow  old  streets, 
where  light  scarcely  filters  and  air  is  a  dispensable 
luxury,  where,  suddenly,  through  a  rift  in  the 
close-packed  dwellings,  the  great  Gothic  bulk 
bursts  upon  the  view. 

The  most  favourable  promenade  leading  to  such 
a  climax  is  through  that  ancient  section  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Seine,  lying  between  the  Boule- 
vards Saint-Michel  and  Saint-Germain  and  along 
the  quais,  taking  by  preference  the  Rue  Saint- 
Severin,  which  leaves  on  the  right  hand  a  charming 
bit  of  architecture  to  be  taken  up  later,  and  con- 
tinuing a  few  steps  through  the  Rue  Galande  one 


72  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

finds,  on  the  left,  a  mere  narrow  passage  leading, 
through  the  debris  of  recent  demolition  and 
roughly  boarded  through  most  of  its  length,  to 
the  Quai  de  Montebello,  a  little  street  of  very 
ancient  flavour  called  the  Rue  Saint-Julien-le- 
Pauvre.  From  the  opening  of  this  "  ruelle  "  is 
perhaps  the  most  striking  vista  in  all  Paris — the 
contrast  between  the  poverty  of  the  neighbour- 
hood and  the  splendour  of  the  Gothic  structure, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  affinity  between  them  is 
fraught  with  material  for  reflection. 

We  are  here,  suddenly,  all  within  the  epoch; 
there  is  nothing  between  us  and  the  Xlllth  cen- 
tury, while  there  is  much  that  is  earlier.  Just 
here,  perhaps,  more  than  anywhere  else,  may  one 
absorb  the  spirit  of  the  antiquity  of  Paris,  else- 
where blotted  out  by  the  intensity  of  its  elan  vital. 
It  tells,  with  a  conviction  born  of  the  actual  visual 
proof,  of  things  in  a  process  of  evolution. 
Through  a  gateway  which  might  lead  to  a  dis- 
used stable,  so  shabby  and  neglected  it  is,  one 
enters  a  paved  courtyard  with  an  old  well,  the 
whole  dilapidated  and  in  the  possession  of  heed- 
less tenants,  partly  enclosed  by  an  unkempt  frag- 
ment of  the  rampart  of  Philippe  Auguste. 

We  are  here,  then,  on  the  border  of  the  Xllth 
century    town,    before    the    desecrated,    but    still 


VISTAS:  UNDER  THE  CATHEDRAL    73 

treasured,  wreck  of  a  church  contemporary  with 
the  cathedral,  and  probably  finished  first — the 
church  Saint- Julien-le-Pauvre  from  which  the 
ruelle  takes  its  name.  A  church  brilliant  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  degraded,  denuded,  abbreviated  in 
the  successive  centuries,  but  still  conserving  an 
unique  message  for  archaeologists  as  representing 
the  precise  moment  when  Gothic  architecture  suc- 
ceeded Roman.  We  shall  come  back  to  it  after 
a  study  of  Notre-Dame  shall  have  whetted  the 
appetite  for  such  abstractions,  but  for  the  moment 
it  serves  as  another  point  of  vantage  from  which 
the  great  cathedral  looms  majestic.  The  sacristan 
is  always  ready  to  open  the  north  door,  in  the 
side  of  the  little  church,  which  used  to  communi- 
cate with  the  old  Hotel  Dieu  when  Saint-Julien- 
le-Pauvre  degenerated  into  a  mere  chapel  for  the 
inmates  of  that  institution,  and  from  which  Notre- 
Dame  is  again  superbly  seen  across  the  river — 
radiant  as  some  glorious  flower. 

The  Seine  widens  above  the  ile  de  la  Cite,  and 
from  both  banks,  coming  back  from  the  direction 
of  the  Gare  de  Lyon,  the  magnificent  apse  of  the 
cathedral  is  boldly  drawn  against  the  sky.  There 
is  a  viewpoint  from  the  Pont  Sully,  which  crosses 
the  extreme  end  of  the  ile  Saint-Louis,  and  forms 
a  link  between  the  Boulevard  Saint-Germain  and 


74  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

the  Boulevard  Henri  IV,  which  leads  on  to  the 
Bastille,  from  which  the  full  force  of  the  choir 
and  apse  with  their  flying  buttresses  is  deeply- 
impressive. 

But  there  is  more  charm  in  a  quiet  prowl  along 
the  northern  side  of  the  peaceful  ile  Saint-Louis, 
the  Quai  de  Bourbon,  and  the  Quai  dAnjou,  lost 
in  contemplative  reverie  before  those  exquisite 
XVIIth  century  hotels — Lauzun  and  Lambert — 
when,  rounding  the  end  of  the  smaller  island  and 
passing  along  the  Quai  de  Bethune,  one  comes 
suddenly  and  directly  upon  the  round  point  of 
the  apse,  from  the  length  of  the  Quai  d'Orleans, 
looking  across  an  arm  of  the  river  which  sep- 
arates the  two  islands.  Again  there  are  no  dis- 
turbing elements,  there  is  nothing  to  subtract 
from  the  perfection  of  the  presentment.  But  I 
assure  you  it  takes  the  breath  away. 

There  are  times  of  day  and  seasons  more 
favourable  than  others  to  a  study  of  effects  upon 
the  character  of  Notre-Dame.  At  mid-day  by  a 
fine  summer  sun,  its  outlines  are  accentuated  by 
strong  shadows,  and  the  great  western  portail  as- 
sumes the  depth  and  vigour  of  a  masterly  litho- 
graph. Through  the  enveloping  gray  of  an 
Indian  summer  morning  the  majesty  of  its  forms 


VISTAS:  UNDER  THE  CATHEDRAL    75 

and  the  abundance  of  its  detail  melt  and  flow  to- 
gether with  the  sympathy  of  a  charcoal  rendering. 
Or  by  moonlight,  in  the  solitary  Parvis,  when  all 
detail  is  lost  and  only  the  great  general  masses  are 
discernible  as  deeper,  softer  notes  in  the  vast  sil- 
houette, one  can  best  submit  to  the  power  of  its 
architecture. 

Of  the  Gothic  cathedrals  of  France  each  has  its 
special  beauty  and  originality.  Le  Mans  is  cele- 
brated for  its  prodigious  choir,  Rouen  for  the 
immense  variety  of  its  accessories,  Chartres  for  its 
glass,  its  belfrys,  its  porches,  and  the  originality 
of  its  details,  Bourges  for  its  unique  crypt, 
Amiens  for  its  unequalled  nave,  while  the  splen- 
did portails  and  marvellous  sculpture  made  the 
reputation  of  Rheims  and  of  Notre-Dame. 

The  great  cathedral,  such  as  we  see  it  to-day, 
dates  in  part  from  the  reign  of  Louis  VII,  le 
Jeune,  or  what  is  more  important,  from  the  time 
of  Maurice  de  Sully,  the  seventy-third  bishop  of 
Paris,  or,  in  other  words,  from  about  the  middle 
of  the  Xllth  century.  Pope  Alexander  III  is 
said  to  have  laid  the  first  stone,  in  1163,  during 
the  time  that  he  was  a  refugee  in  France.  To 
substantiate  the  truth  of  the  contemporary  ac- 
count, written  by  Robert  of  Auxerre,  we  know 


76  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

that  on  April  21,  of  the  same  year,  this  pontiff 
consecrated  the  apse  of  Saint-Germain-des-Pres 
"  with  the  assistance  of  twelve  cardinals." 

As  early  as  the  IVth  century,  however,  the 
Christians,  before  the  reign  of  Clovis,  the  founder 
of  the  monarchy  of  the  Francs,  and  the  first  of 
the  Merovingien  kings,  had  erected  a  basilica. 
Through  the  Life  of  Saint-Marcel  we  know  that 
a  church  existed  before  the  end  of  the  Vlth  cen- 
tury, on  the  banks  of  the  Seine,  near  the  point 
of  the  island.  But  the  solid  ground  of  the  present 
lie  de  la  Cite,  one  must  remember,  is  composed 
of  the  amalgamation  of  three  islands,  for  in 
earlier  times  two  islets  lay  in  the  bed  of  the 
Seine,  before  the  point  of  the  principal  island  of 
Lutece,  the  cradle  of  Paris.  The  "  point  of  the 
island  "  then,  upon  which  existed  this  first  cathe- 
dral, was,  roughly  speaking,  at  about  where  is 
now  the  Petit  Pont. 

This  church  built,  as  it  appears,  by  Prudentius, 
the  eighth  bishop  of  Paris,  is  reputed  to  have  been 
restored  by  Childebert,  the  third  son  of  Clovis, 
who  figures  in  the  annals  of  the  time  as  the  king 
of  Paris,  and  the  most  prominent  of  the  reigning 
monarchs  of  the  Francs. 

The  obscurity  of  the  narrations  of  this  period  of 
the  history  of  that  delightful  territory  known  to 


VISTAS:  UNDER  THE  CATHEDRAL    77 

the  ancients  as  Gallia,  the  remoteness  and  variety 
of  the  sources  of  available  information,  leave  the 
reader  much  agreeable  scope  for  imagination — 
written  also  as  are  these  old  chronicles  with  a 
naivete  altogether  delicious. 

Bounded  by  the  Rhine,  the  Alps,  the  Pyrenees, 
and  the  ocean,  the  country  was  exposed  to  per- 
petual invasions  and  colonized  by  numerous  tribes 
and  peoples.  Fabulous  as  are  the  contemporary 
narratives,  it  becomes  clear  that  amongst  the 
usurpers  who  struggled  for  possession  of  Gallia, 
the  Francs,  albeit  not  the  most  civilized,  became 
in  time  a  powerful  race,  established  themselves  in 
a  large  territory  extending  from  Gallia  Belgica 
to  the  river  Somme,  and  made  the  city  of  Treves 
their  capital. 

Under  the  rule  of  the  succession  from  a  more 
or  less  mythical  common  ancestor,  called  Merovee 
— or  Meerwig,  or  Meerwings  (warrior  of  the  sea) 
— the  Francs  had  extended  their  conquests  to  the 
banks  of  the  Loire  at  the  time  (about  481)  that 
Clovis,  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years,  became  king, 
succeeding  his  father,  Childeric,  expulsed  by  his 
subjects,  the  Salic  Francs  camped  in  and  about 
Tournai,  the  old  Civitas  Nerviorum  of  Caesar. 

Childeric  upon  expulsion  had  fled  to  Tliuringia, 
and  in  his  place  his  former  subjects  had  adopted 


78  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

as  their  ruler  Siagre,  or  Syagrius,  son  of  Gilles, 
the  last  of  the  Roman  governors.  In  the  fifth 
year  of  his  reign,  Clovis,  a  youth  of  twenty,  aided 
by  a  kinsman  prince,  made  war  upon  his  father's 
former  possessions,  put  to  death  Syagrius,  and 
conquered  his  people,  thereby  laying  the  corner- 
stone of  the  realm  over  which  he  was  soon  to  be- 
come sole  ruler.  It  was  in  thus  uniting  the  scat- 
tered petty  kingdoms  of  the  Francs  and  making 
himself  their  king,  that  Clovis  founded  the  Mero- 
vingien  Dynasty — the  name  derived  from  that  of 
the  common  ancestor. 

Christianity  was  brought  into  Paris  in  the 
Ilird  century — or  thereabouts.  But  until  Clovis 
the  rulers  of  the  Francs  were  still  pagans,  or 
heretics,  mostly  Arians,  who  denied  the  consub- 
stantiality  of  Christ.  Clovis,  in  the  eyes  at  least 
of  Gregoire  de  Tours,  our  chief  authority,  owed 
much  of  his  successful  domination  of  the  Francs 
to  the  support  of  the  clergy,  who  at  the  time  held 
supreme  moral  influence  over  the  people.  The 
bishops  preferred  Clovis,  who  as  it  appears  was 
without  strong  convictions,  to  the  Arian  princes, 
his  rivals,  who  presented  to  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity  an  invincible  opposition. 

Gregoire  de  Tours  would  have  us  believe  that 
it  was  the  bishops  and  the  clergy   placed  under 


VISTAS:  UNDER  THE  CATHEDRAL    79 

their  orders  who  nationalized  this  prince  of  the 
Sahc  Francs  and  his  family.  This  would  explain 
the  intimate  alliance  which  existed  between  the 
successors  of  Clovis  and  the  ministers  of  the 
church.  Though  the  murders,  pillages,  and  ex- 
actions of  all  kinds  practised  and  instigated  by 
these  bellicose  kings  of  the  Merovingien  Dynasty 
often  bruised  the  harmony  of  their  relations  with 
the  bishops,  the  damage  was  never  irreparable. 
Long  penances,  or  even  the  moments  which  pre- 
ceded the  death  of  a  monarch,  expiated  the  violence 
and  rapine  of  a  lifetime  of  libertinage. 

Clovis'  conversion  to  Christianity  resulted  from 
his  marriage  to  Clotilde,  a  Burgundian  princess. 
Though  of  a  line  of  Arians  Clotilde  was  a  Chris- 
tian. She  was  a  granddaughter  of  Gondioche, 
king  of  the  Burgundians.  At  the  death  of  this 
monarch,  following  the  custom  of  the  times  by 
which  an  elder  son  had  no  material  advantage 
over  a  younger,  his  realm  was  divided  amongst 
his  four  sons,  whereupon  Gondebaud,  the  eldest, 
in  order  to  simplify  the  succession  and  augment 
his  own  power  and  possessions  in  Burgundy, 
killed  his  brother  Chilperic — Clotilde's  father — 
drowned  his  wife — Clotilde's  mother — and  exiled 
the  two  daughters,  of  whom  the  elder,  Crone, 
became  a  nun.     Later  Clotilde,  despite  the  out- 


80  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

rage  she  had  suffered  at  his  hands,  was  received 
into  the  household  of  Gondebaud,  who,  by  an  in- 
difference which  seems  only  natural  in  view  of 
what  had  already  transpired,  left  her  free  to  pur- 
sue the  religion  of  her  choice. 

It  was  to  Gondebaud,  then,  that  Clovis,  acting 
upon  the  advices  of  his  ambassadors,  applied  for 
the  hand  of  his  niece.  This  favour  the  king,  more 
from  fear  than  inclination  ("  plutot  par  crainte 
que  par  inclination")  says  Gregoire  de  Tours, 
granted,  and  the  young  princess,  whom  the  am- 
bassadors had  reported  "  aussi  sage  que  belle," 
was  escorted  to  the  kingdom  of  her  future  hus- 
band, where  she  became  his  wife,  notwithstanding 
the  fact,  says  the  chronicler,  that  Clovis  had  al- 
ready, by  a  concubine,  a  son,  whose  name  was 
Thierry. 

The  narrative  now  becomes  exceedingly  naive. 
Clotilde's  sole  concern  in  this  marriage,  we  are 
told,  was  the  conversion  of  her  husband  to  the 
true  faith.  Their  union  was  soon  blessed  with  a 
son,  Ingomen,  whom,  in  defiance  of  all  tradition 
to  the  contrary  in  the  house  of  the  Merovingiens, 
Clotilde  had  baptised.  As  the  infant  died  soon 
after  baptism,  Clovis  attributed  his  death  to  that 
ceremony,  and  reproached  the  queen,  who  never- 


VISTAS:  UNDER  THE  CATHEDRAL    81 

theless,  nothing  daunted,  baptised  their  second 
son,  Clodomir,  upon  his  arrival  on  the  scene. 
History  threatened  to  repeat  itself.  The  child 
fell  ill  and  Clovis  "  groaned  and  cried,"  but  the 
queen,  "  foreseeing  the  bad  effects  of  a  second 
loss  of  this  nature  "  upon  the  cause  to  which  she 
was  devoted — more  as  a  matter  of  pohcy  than 
from  any  interest  in  her  baby,  the  narration  al- 
most implies — "  prayed  to  God,  and  He  reestab- 
lished his  health." 

Clovis,  upon  this  proof  of  Divine  power,  was 
expected  to  turn  Christian,  but  he  resisted  and  it 
was  not  until  a  full  three  years  after  his  marriage 
that  his  conversion  was  accomplished.  Clovis  at 
this  time  (496)  was  engaged  in  a  war  against  the 
Germans  at  Tolbiac.  At  first  the  Francs  were 
badly  beaten  and  there  was  great  carnage.  Clovis 
invoked  his  pagan  gods  in  vain,  and  finally  hav- 
ing proven  their  impotence  {"  ayant  eprouve  que 
ses  Dieux  Jiavoient  nulle  puissance")  he,  in  his 
extremity,  bethought  him  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  son 
of  the  living  God,  of  whom  Clotilde  had  so  often 
spoken;  he  invoked  him  and  asked  his  help,  prom- 
ising to  become  a  Christian  if  he  would  grant  him 
a  victory.  The  pact  was  made.  Clovis  had 
scarcely    finished    speaking,    says    the    chronicler, 


82  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

when  the  German  king  lost  his  life,  and  the 
soldiers  of  the  enemy,  seeing  that  their  leader 
was  dead,  submitted  to  Clovis. 

Clovis,  returning  victor,  related  to  the  queen 
how  her  God  had  aided  him  in  his  peril,  and  she, 
profiting  of  the  occasion,  sent  secretly  to  Remi, 
the  bishop  of  Rheims,  who  presented  himself  at 
the  court  and  effected  the  conversion.  Clovis  de- 
clared himself  convinced  but  feared  that  his  sub- 
jects would  never  willingly  give  up  their  idols. 
What  was  his  surprise,  says  the  narrative,  when 
appearing  before  them  he  found  that  the  miracle 
was  accomplished,  for  they  cried :  "  Nous  abandon- 
nons  ces  Dieux  mortels,  o  Roi  pieux,  8^  nous 
fommes  prets  de  fuivre  ce  Dieu  immortel  que 
Re?ni  arinonce" 

The  good  news  was  carried  to  Remi,  who, 
"  trembling  with  joy,"  commanded  that  the  sacred 
bath  should  be  prepared.  This  was  done  with 
ceremony  and  magnificence.  Clovis  came  to  the 
baptismal  font,  and  the  sainted  prelate  said  to 
him:  "  Baiffer  humblejnent  la  tcte,  6  Sicamhre! 
Adorez  de  que  vous  avez  hrule,  et  hridez  ce  que 
vous  avez  adore"  Thus  was  Clovis,  the  founder 
of  the  Merovingien  Dynasty,  baptised  and 
anointed — thus  were  church  and  state  united. 

Besides  the  king  more  than  three  thousand  of 


VISTAS:  UNDER  THE  CATHEDRAL     83 

his  army  were  baptised  that  day  as  well  as  Albo- 
flede  and  Lantilde,  the  sisters  of  Clovis. 

When  Clovis  died  at  Paris,  in  511,  he  was  in- 
terred in  the  basihca  of  Saint-Peter  and  Saint- 
Paul,  which  he  and  Clotilde  had  built  as  a  monu- 
ment to  his  victory  over  the  Visigoths,  upon  the 
summit  of  a  mount  at  whose  base  was  the  ancient 
palace  of  the  Ca?sars — the  Palais  des  Thermes. 
Some  centuries  later  this  church  became  known 
as  Sainte-Genevieve. 

If  Clotilde  worked  throughout  her  life  with 
great  singleness  of  purpose  towards  the  establish- 
ment of  her  religion  in  the  royal  house  to  which 
she  was  allied,  Clovis  was  no  less  constant  to  his 
dominating  passion,  that  of  becoming  sole  and 
absolute  ruler  of  Gaul.  It  seems  therefore  al- 
most a  tragedy  that  upon  his  death  the  unity 
which  he  had  established  should  have  had  to  be 
disintegrated. 

Clovis  left  four  heirs:  Theodoric  or  Thierry, 
the  offspring  of  his  concubine,  and  Clodomir, 
Childebert,  and  Clotaire,  the  fruit  of  his  union 
with  Clotilde.  At  this  epoch,  as  indeed  during 
the  whole  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  much  later, 
bastardy  was  looked  upon  neither  as  a  blot  nor 
as  a  reason  for  exclusion  from  inheritance.  Clovis 
was  himself  a  bastard,  a  fact  which  had  not  pre- 


84  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

vented  him  from  succeeding  to  the  paternal  kingly- 
rights.  Thierry,  then,  shared  in  equal  portions 
with  his  three  brothers,  and  received,  amongst  other 
properties,  Rouergue,  Auvergne,  Querci,  "  et  les 
deux  Germaniesf  and  was  also  allotted  the  cities 
of  Metz,  Toul,  Verdun,  Rheims,  and  Chalons- 
sur-Marne,  choosing  Metz  for  the  capital  of  his 
estates.  Clodomir  established  himself  at  Orleans, 
Clotaire  at  Soissons,.  while  Childebert  united  in 
his  portion  Senlis  and  Meaux  and,  like  his  father, 
made  Paris  his  place  of  residence.  It  is  difficult 
to  establish  the  boundaries  of  these  four  divisions 
of  Clovis'  kingdom,  but  it  is  certain  that  the  part 
including  Paris  had  several  prerogatives  over  the 
others. 

The  history  of  these  Merovingien  monarchs  is 
but  war  and  rapine,  but  Childebert,  mingling  with 
his  crimes  a  certain  piety,  figures  not  only  as  the 
founder  of  the  abbey  of  Saint-Germain-des-Pres 
— first  dedicated  to  Saint-Vincent  and  Sainte- 
Croix — but  also,  in  gratitude  for  his  recovery 
from  an  illness,  as  some  say,  rebuilt  the  church 
of  Prudentius  to  accord  witli  the  increase  of  the 
population  of  Paris  and  the  consequent  growth 
of  the  congregation. 

Fortunat,  who  lived  soon  after,  describes  with 
the   enthusiasm   of   an   eyewitness   tlie   glories   of 


VISTAS:  UNDER  THE  CATHEDRAL     85 

this  work  of  Childebert.  His  De  Ecclesia  Pari- 
sicica  tells  in  poetic  fashion  of  a  basilica  whose 
walls  were  splendidly  supported  by  columns  of 
marble,  of  magnificent  glass  in  the  windows,  of 
an  altar  facing  the  east,  and  of  the  effect  of 
Aurora  creeping  through  those  eastern  windows, 
waking  the  inward  fires  of  the  floor,  the  walls,  and 
the  roof,  which  shone  by  their  own  light  before 
being  visited  by  the  sun.  And  it  is  Fortunat  who 
tells  us  that  the  church  was  the  gift  of  the  pious 
king  Childebert  to  a  beloved  people.  "  Devoted 
with  his  whole  soul  to  the  service  of  God,"  his 
poetic  fervour  allows  him  thus  to  exaggerate,  "  he 
has  added  new  riches  to  the  inexhaustible  treas- 
ures of  the  church.  Veritable  Melchizedek  of  his 
time,  at  once  priest  and  king,  he  shows  himself  a 
perfect  servitor  of  religion." 

We  learn  by  a  deed  of  the  year  8G0  that  the 
cathedral  of  Paris  bore  the  name  of  Saint- 
Etienne,^  the  first  martyr.  The  Abbe  Lebeuf, 
who  has  left  so  careful  an  account  of  the  churches 
of  Paris,  is  certain  that  this  church  was  composed, 
at  some  time  later  than  the  reign  of  Childebert, 
of  two  edifices,  one  the  Basilica  of  Notre-Dame 
and  the  other  the  Basilica  of  Saint-Etienne.  And 
Gregoire  de  Tours  in  speaking  of  a  fire  which,  in 

'  Saint-Stephen. 


86  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

586,  reduced  all  the  houses  of  the  tie  de  Paris  to 
ashes,  says  that  only  the  churches  were  excepted. 
This  plurality  of  churches  in  the  Cite  can  only 
mean  those  which  formed  the  cathedral,  and  of 
which  Saint-Etienne  was  the  oldest,  being  often 
in  these  early  records  referred  to  as  the  Senior 
Ecclesia. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  Normans  in 
their  raid  upon  Paris,  in  857,  burned  the  church 
dedicated  to  the  Virgin,  but  spared  Saint-Etienne 
for  its  ancient  dome,  for  the  preservation  of  which 
they  had  been  paid  a  sum.  It  was  in  Saint- 
Etienne  that  was  held  the  famous  Concile  de 
Paris  in  829. 

The  companion  church,  Notre-Dame,  which 
stood  beside  Saint-Etienne  on  the  north  side,  and 
which  had  been  destroyed  by  the  Normans,  was 
rebuilt  in  a  grander  style  to  accord  with  the  lat- 
ter, and  having  thus  been  repaired  lasted  as  long 
as  the  earlier  edifice,  which  had  suffered  only 
trifling  accidents.  We  read  that  Etienne  de  Gar- 
lande,  an  archdeacon  of  the  Xllth  century,  made 
many  restorations  and  that  the  Abbe  Suger,  the 
famous  builder  of  Saint-Denis,  gave  to  the  church 
a  beautiful  glass  window.  Several  bits  of  this 
stained  glass  given  by  Suger  appear  to  have  been 
preserved   in   the   northern    rose   window    of   the 


VISTAS:  UNDER  THE  CATHEDRAL     87 

transept,  and  other  fragments  existed  until  the 
middle  of  the  XVIIIth  century,  when  tlie  glori- 
ous coloured  windows  were  taken  out  and  replaced 
hy  modern  designs  in  transparent  glass  in  order 
to  lighten  the  church.  (!) 

The  kings  of  the  Capetien  Dynasty,  whose 
palace,  replacing  the  dwelling  of  Julian  the  Apos- 
tate, stood  upon  the  site  of  the  present  Palais  de 
Justice,  went  often  to  this  church,  and  called  it 
the  nova  ecclesia,  to  distinguish  it  from  Saint- 
Etienne.  When  the  bishop  of  Senlis  came  to 
Paris  in  1041  to  have  confirmed  a  charter,  he 
found  King  Henri  I  at  the  grande  7nesse  of  the 
Pentecost,  and  Louis  le  Jeune  is  known  to  have 
come  frequently  in  the  following  century. 

This  nova  ecclesia  was  the  first  to  be  sacrificed 
to  the  handsome  construction  contemplated  by  the 
bishop  Maurice  de  Sully,  when  about  the  year 
1160  he  undertook  to  make  the  two  churches  one. 
Its  foundations  were  preserved  and  upon  them 
were  raised  the  new  sanctuary  and  choir.  The 
senior  ecclesia  was  allowed  to  exist  some  fifty 
years  longer,  until  standing  in  the  way  of  the 
aisles  to  the  south  it  was  also  demolished,  having 
stood  about  six  hundred  years.  In  its  destruction 
important  relics  were  uncovered:  among  otliers 
"  three   teeth    of    John    the    Baptist,    an    arm    of 


88  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Saint- Andre,  and  several  stones  from  the  martyr- 
dom of  Saint-Etienne." 

When,  in  1847,  the  Place  du  Parvis  was  dug 
up,  to  put  down  sewers,  several  substructures  of 
the  basilica  of  Childebert,  buried  perhaps  for  ten 
centuries,  were  discovered,  their  foundations  con- 
fused with  those  of  several  houses  of  the  Roman 
epoch,  which  had  surely  been  razed  to  make  way 
for  the  cathedral.  At  this  time,  giving  substance 
to  Fortunat's  verses,  parts  of  mosaic  in  small 
cubes  of  different  coloured  marbles,  which  one 
supposed  had  served  as  paving  to  the  nave  of 
Saint-Etienne,  came  to  light,  and  more  important 
still  were  exhumed  the  remains  of  three  columns 
of  marble  from  Aquitaine,  a  country  of  ancient 
Gaul,  as  well  as  a  large  Corinthian  capital  in 
white  marble,  which  had  all  the  character  of 
Merovingien  sculpture.  These  fragments  have 
been  erected  in  the  large  Salle  des  Thermes, 
joining  the  Hotel  de  Cluny,  where  they  may  be 
studied  close  at  hand.  The  most  perfect  of  the 
three  columns  has  been  finished  by  the  placing,  or 
perhaps  the  replacing  of  the  Corinthian  capital, 
and  from  this  may  be  judged  somewhat  the  size 
and  importance  of  the  ancient  cathedral  from 
which  they  come. 


CHAPTER  V 
THE   ANCIENT   CITE 

From  so  clean-swejit  a  preface  as  is  the  present 
Place  du  Parvis  of  Notre-Dame,  all  the  patine  of 
time  has  been  scraped  away.  In  early  days  the 
great  cathedral,  hemmed  in  on  all  sides  by  low- 
built,  gable-end  dwellings,  dominated  a  multitude 
of  little  churches  and  chapels,  camped  within  the 
circumference  of  its  great  shadow. 

Old  engravings  picture  the  cathedral  rising 
supreme  between  its  cloisters  on  the  one  hand  and 
the  imposing  mass  of  the  Episcopal  Palace  on 
the  other,  while  the  ancient  Pai'vis — the  terrestrial 
paradise — an  intimate  narrow  strip  of  clear  space, 
was  further  hedged  in  by  the  massive  structure 
of  the  original  Hotel-Dieu,  which  occupied  the 
strip  of  greenery  on  the  right  side  of  the  Place 
du  Parvis,  now  dedicated  to  the  statue  of  Charle- 
magne, and,  bridging  the  Seine,  took  root  on  both 
island  and  mainland.  The  cloisters  were  entered 
by  the  little  Porte  Rouge,  which  still  exists,  and 
growing  close  to  the  cathedral,  forming  a  pro- 
longation   of    its    architecture,    occupied    all    the 

89 


90  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

space  to  the  left;  now  marked  by  the  Rue  du 
Cloitre  Notre  Dame.  From  remotest  times  the 
bishops  of  Paris  had  for  official  residence  a  vast 
edifice  standing  between  the  cathedral  and  the 
southern  arm  of  the  Seine.  High  towers  gave  it 
the  effect  of  a  feudal  castle,  and  extensive  rooms 
served  for  great  ecclesiastical  assemblies.  A 
small  street  or  passage  separated  Notre-Dame 
from  the  Episcopal  Palace. 

All  about  Notre-Dame  was  grouped  a  con- 
ventual population — monks,  priests,  abbots,  friars, 
canons,  capuchins,  choristers,  beadles,  nuns — be- 
longing not  only  to  the  cathedral  but  attached  to 
the  numerous  dependances  and  chapels.  The 
Place  du  Parvis  was  a  scene  of  continuous  ac- 
tivity, of  comings  and  goings,  the  atmosphere 
charged  with  the  perfumes  of  censers,  the  air 
vibrant  with  the  music  of  quaint  chimes,  or  the 
hum  of  the  great  ho7irdons  of  Notre-Dame,  all 
life  seemingly  drawing  upon  the  big  church  as 
the  source  of  animation,  itself  the  pivotal  point  of 
this  little  universe. 

The  priests  of  the  fifteen  parochial  churches 
clustered  about  the  parent  edifice  were  in  those 
early  times  obliged  to  come  to  Notre-Dame  daily 
to  read  the  breviary,  for,  according  to  Sauval,  be- 
fore the   invention   of   printing   the   divine   office 


THE  ANCIENT  CITE  91 

for  each  day  in  manuscript  was  to  be  found 
chained  to  the  first  pillar  each  side  of  the  nave 
for  the  convenience  of  the  priests  who  had  not 
means  to  own  such  expensive  books. 

Projecting  back  several  centuries,  one  sees 
Paris  as  a  small  mediaeval  city,  having  grown  but 
little  beyond  Cesar's  Lutetia,  its  churches  and 
houses  crowded  upon  the  island,  or  grouped  close 
to  the  right  and  left  banks  of  the  river,  the  vast 
bulk  of  Notre-Dame  emphasized  and  exaggerated 
by  the  dwarfish  proportions  of  its  environment. 
Such  bridges  as  at  this  early  date  spanned  the  two 
arms  of  the  river,  joining  the  island  to  the  main- 
land, were  so  covered  with  shops  and  houses  as  to 
conceal  completely  their  identity  as  bridges;  they 
appear  to  be  merely  continuations  of  the  streets 
which  they  unite. 

The  Petit  Pont  was  the  first  means  of  com- 
munication between  the  island  of  Paris  and  the 
mainland.  It  replaced  one  of  the  two  older 
Roman  bridges,  and  led  to  the  then  modern  Rue 
Saint-Jacques,  which  followed  the  route  of  the 
old  Roman  road  to  Orleans.  It  was  rebuilt  of 
stones  by  the  bishop  Maurice  de  Sully,  to  make 
a  firm  passage  to  his  cathedral  and  to  the  epis- 
copal residence,  but  owing  to  the  turbulence  of  the 
river   at   this   point,    where   it   rushed   through   a 


92  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

narrower  channel,  and  also  we  are  to  suppose 
because  of  the  famous  rising  of  the  Seine  which 
to  this  day  is  a  constant  menace  to  the  city,  the 
bridge  was  over  and  over  again  carried  away  and 
rebuilt  between  1206  and  1393,  when  a  mere 
imsserelle  of  wood  furnished  a  foot-bridge  for 
travellers.  At  about  this  date  parliament  found 
an  ingenious  means  of  rebuilding  the  Petit  Pont 
without  further  drain  upon  the  public  treasury. 

It  seems  that  seven  Jews,  guilty  of  having  tried 
to  bring  back  to  their  faith  a  converted  brother, 
were  condemned:  first,  to  be  beaten  with  rods 
"  on  three  Saturdays  in  three  different  places  " ; 
second,  to  pay  ten  thousand  livres  parisis,  of 
which  nine  thousand  five  hundred  should  be  em- 
ployed in  the  reconstruction  of  the  Petit  Pont; 
third,  to  be  kept  prisoner  until  the  entire  sum  was 
paid;  fourth,  to  be  banished  from  the  realm;  fifth, 
to  have  all  their  goods  confiscated — ce  qui  eut  lieu 
(which  was  done)  is  the  laconic  terminating  re- 
mark of  this  vicious  document. 

There  exist  in  manuscript  some  old  Latin 
verses  by .  a  prior  of  the  Abbaye  Saint-Victor, 
called  Godefroy,  written  during  the  second  half 
of  the  Xllth  century,  and  entitled  "  De  Parvi 
Pontanis,"  which  give  some  curious  details  con- 
cerning the  Petit  Pont  at  that  time.     Roughly 


THE  ANCIENT  CITE  93 

translated  the  story  which  Godefroy  relates  is 
this:  Some  men  built  a  bridge  with  their  own 
hands  and  made  a  convenient  passage  over  the 
water;  each  built  himself  thereon  a  house,  and 
from  this  they  were  called  Parvi  Poutins,  dwellers 
on  the  bridge.  The  materials  are  as  handsome  as 
the  architecture.  The  under  part  is  formed  of 
piles  and  cut  stones,  and  this  solid  structure  is 
supported  upon  columns  as  strong  as  bronze.  The 
upper  part  is  paved  with  stones  and  decorated 
with  devices  in  gold  and  silver,  and  the  route  is 
furnished  on  both  sides  with  walls  high  enough  to 
prevent  the  inexperienced  from  falling  off,  but 
has  also  exedras  (such  as  distinguish  the  present 
Pont-Neuf)  from  which  people  may  see  the  water 
and  sound  its  hidden  depths.  Some  come  hither 
to  enjoy  l)athing,  to  refresh  their  limbs  from  the 
heat  of  sunmier.  Here  also  is  a  school  of  ven- 
erable doctors,  eminent  in  science  as  in  their  man- 
ners, who  instruct  the  ignorant  population. 
Happy  people  who  have  sucli  masters !  ''  O  bca- 
tus  populus  talium  rectorum." 

The  greater  j^art  of  the  little  churches  and 
chapels  of  the  island  were  suppressed  at  the  time 
of  the  Revolution,  in  1791,  and  many  were  de- 
stroyed soon  after.  Some,  however,  lingered  on 
serving  various  secular  purposes  until  well  after 


94  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

the  middle  of  the  XlXth  century.  Many  ante- 
dated the  cathedral  of  Maurice  de  Sully. 

The  priory  of  Saint-Eloy  was  perhaps  the 
oldest  religious  establishment  in  the  Cite.  The 
celebrated  minister  and  companion  of  Dagobert, 
Eloy,  who  was  artist,  goldsmith,  treasurer,  and 
even  diplomat — Dagobert  employed  him  for 
everything — and  who  finally  became  bishop  of 
Noyon  and  was  ultimately  canonized,  having  ob- 
tained a  large  estate  from  Dagobert,  opposite  the 
Palais,  founded  thereon  a  monastery  which  took 
his  name.  This  monastery  its  founder  placed 
under  the  invocation  of  Saint-Martial,  bishop  of 
Limoges,  but  it  was  later  protected  also  by  Saint- 
Eloy  and  Sainte-Aure,  its  first  abbess,  who  died 
there  in  the  plague  of  666  with  one  hundred  and 
sixty  of  her  nuns.  In  the  monastic  church  Phi- 
lippe de  Villette,  abbot  of  Saint-Denis,  escaped 
from  the  massacre  of  the  Burgundians  by  clinging 
to  the  altar,  dressed  in  his  pontifical  robes,  holding 
aloft  the  sacred  Host. 

The  enclosure  of  the  monastery,  called  the 
Ceinture  de  Saint-Eloy,  followed  the  lines  of  the 
old  Rues  de  la  Barillerie,  de  la  Calande,  aux 
Feves,  and  de  la  Vieille  Draperie,  all  extinguished 
by  the  modern  official  buildings  opposite  the 
Palais,  to  the  right  of  the  Rue  de  Lutece.     Ceded 


THE  ANCIENT  CITE  95 

in  the  Xllth  century  to  the  Abbaye  Saint-Maur- 
les-Fosses,  this  monastery,  after  many  vicissi- 
tudes,  fell  into  ruins,  when  Monseigneur  de 
Gondi,  the  first  archbishop  of  Paris,  gave  it,  in 
1626,  to  the  Earnabites.  The  convents  of  the 
church  rebuilt  by  this  order  stood  until  torn  down 
to  erect  on  their  site  tlie  barracks  of  the  city. 
The  iwrtail  of  the  church  was  transported  stone 
for  stone  and  applied  to  the  Eglise  des  Blancs- 
Manteaux. 

Sainte-Croix  M\as  a  chaj^el  of  obscure  origin, 
supposed  to  have  existed  since  the  Vllth  century 
as  a  hospital  for  the  nuns  of  Saint-Eloy.  It  was 
suppressed  and  sold  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution, 

Saint-Germain-le-Vieux  was  originally  a  chapel 
dedicated  to  Saint-.Tean-Baptiste,  built  in  the  year 
693,  but  several  times  enlarged.  It  took  the  name 
Saint-Germain  after  one  of  the  Norman  inva- 
sions, during  which  time  the  abbots  of  Saint-Ger- 
main-des-Pres,  whose  enclosure  stood  without  the 
walls  of  the  city,  took  refuge  here,  and  upon  re- 
turning to  their  abbey  left  to  the  church  in 
mark  of  gratitude  an  arm,  or  a  bone  from  an 
arm,  of  their  patron  saint.  Some  authorities  say 
that  the  body  of  the  saint  reposed  here  for  two 
years  in  safety  while  the  Normans  sacked  the 
abbey;    others   that,    in   the    Vlth    century,    Ger- 


96  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

main,  bishop  of  Paris,  himself  resided  here,  which 
explains  the  choice  of  the  church  as  an  asylum  in 
the  IXth  century,  by  the  religious  order  bearing 
his  name.  Saint-Martial,  the  choir  of  Saint-Eloy, 
stood  to  the  left  of  Saint-Germain-le-Vieux.  The 
Prefecture  de  Police  and  other  municipal  build- 
ings, the  Qua'i  du  Marche-Neuf,  and  the  wide 
Rue  de  Lutece  have  blotted  out  every  trace  of 
these  and  others  of  the  old  churches  between  the 
Palais  of  the  early  kings  and  the  Rue  de  la 
Cite. 

Opposite  Saint-Germain-le-VIeux,  and  close  by 
tlie  Petit  Pont,  stood  until  1772  the  Gothic  por- 
tals of  the  two  chapels  of  the  old  Hotel-Dieu,  a 
striking  feature  of  the  edifice,  added  by  Louis 
XI,  who  was  a  great  benefactor  of  the  institution. 
The  origin  of  the  Hotel-Dieu  is  somewhat  ob- 
scure, but  it  is  supposed  to  have  developed  from 
a  hospital  founded  in  the  year  660  by  Saint-Lan- 
dry,  a  bishop  of  Paris,  and  dedicated  to  Saint- 
Christophe.  Philippe  Auguste  built  the  first 
structure  which  bore  the  name  Hotel-Dieu  and 
Saint-Louis  augmented  considerably  the  work  of 
his  predecessor.  Philippe  Auguste  gave  the 
name,  Salle  Saint-Denis,  to  the  first  ward.  Queen 
Blanche  of  Castille  added  the  Salle  Saint-Thomas, 
and  her  son,  Saint-Louis,  gave  the   Salle  Jaune 


THE  ANCIENT  CITE  97 

with   two   attendant   chapels   along   the   banks   of 
the  river. 

In  1217  the  chapter  forbade  making  doors  to  the 
Hotel-Dieu  for  fear  thieves  would  take  refuge 
there.  This  recalls  a  curious  act  passed  by  the 
Council  of  Orleans  under  King  Clovis  in  the  year 
511,  which  shows  the  importance  of  the  place 
occupied  by  the  clergy  in  relation  to  the  Francs 
converted  to  Catholicism.  The  acts  of  this  as- 
sembly throw  too  bright  a  light  upon  the  times  to 
wliich  they  refer  to  be  passed  over  in  silence.  The 
first  law  passed  by  the  council  provided  for  the 
complete  safety  of  any  person  taking  refuge  in 
any  church  or  in  the  house  of  a  bishop. 

The  first  canon  of  this  council  is  perhaps  worth 
quoting  in  full.  It  reads:  ''quit  est  dcfendu  de 
tirer  par  force,  et  de  livrer  les  homicides,  les  adul- 
tcres,  et  les  voleurs  qui  se  seront  refugics  dans 
les  asiles  des  eglises  ou  dans  la  maison  d'un 
eveque.  II  est  egalenient  defendu  de  remettre 
ces  coupables  entre  les  mains  de  quelque  personne 
que  se  soit,  si,  au  prealahle,  elle  n'a  proinis  a 
Vcglise,  en  jurant  sur  les  saints  evangiles,  que 
les  coupahles  ne  seront  ijoint  i^unis  de  mort,  de 
mutilation  de  7ne?nhrcs,  ni  d'aucun  autre  jieine 
afflictive.  Ces  rnemes  coupahles  ne  seront  point 
remis  entres  les  mains  des  plaignants  avant  tran- 


98  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

saction.  Si  quelquun,  dans  les  cir  con  stances  ci- 
dessus  enoncees,  viole  le.  serme7it  quil  aurait  fait 
a  Veglise  il  sera  tenu  imur  excornmunie;  les  clercs 
et  les  la'iques  s'abstiendront  d'aucune  communica- 
tion avec  lui.  Enfin,  si  quelque  coupahle,  in- 
timide  par  le  refus  que  ferait  sa  partie  de  com- 
poser avec  lui,  se  sauve  de  Veglise  oil  il  etait 
refugie,  et  disparait,  la  susdite  p)artie  ne  pourra 
int enter  aucune  action  contre  les  clercs  de  Veglise., 
a  raison  de  cette  meme  evasion/' 

Now  the  canons  of  Notre-Dame  owned  one- 
half  of  the  Hotel-Dieu  and  the  Bishop  of  Paris 
the  other,  so  that  the  hospital,  by  a  slight  stretch 
of  the  old  law  of  Clovis,  miglit  have  been  con- 
sidered the  house  of  the  bishop  and  consequently 
a  place  of  refuge  for  malefactors.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  the  great  doors  of  the  Petit  Pont  were  not 
built  until  the  reign  of  Louis  XI,  as  was  wit- 
nessed by  the  pedestrian  figure  of  this  king  in 
one  of  the  gables. 

In  the  reign  of  King  Robert,  about  1005, 
Renaud  de  Vendome,  the  presiding  bishop  of 
Paris,  presented  the  canons  with  his  half  of  the 
Hotel-Dieu  and  in  1099  Bishop  Guillaume  gave 
them  also  the  Eglise  Saint-Cln-istophe,  which  seems 
to  have  stood  facing  the  Parvis  to  the  left  of  the 
hospital. 


THE  ANCIENT  CITE  99 

Though  the  revenues  of  the  institution  appear 
to  have  been  large,  its  resources  were  so  restricted 
that  the  inmates,  sick  and  well,  are  described  as 
sleej^ing  together  upon  the  insufficient  beds.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  good  bishop  INIaurice  de  Sully, 
who  was  called  the  father  of  the  poor,  had  passed 
a  statute  in  the  year  1168  providing  that  there- 
after the  beds  of  each  deceased  bishop  and  canon  of 
the  chapter  of  Notre-Dame,  with  their  furnishings, 
should  become  the  property  of  the  Hotel-Dieu. 

Under  JNIaurice  de  Sully  the  clergy  still  lived  in  a 
state  of  exemplary  simplicity,  their  beds  were 
simply  fashioned  and  simply  furnished  and  were 
considered  quite  suitable  for  hospital  service;  but 
as  luxury  crept  into  the  surroundings  of  the  ad- 
ministrators of  the  Hotel-Dieu,  it  was  considered 
sufficient  that  each  should  leave,  in  place  of  his 
sumptuous  couch,  the  sum  of  one  hundred  livres, 
a  substantial  consideration  for  those  days.  This 
served  until  1592,  when  the  secular  directors  of 
the  hospital  brought  to  the  attention  of  parlia- 
ment the  fact  that  the  poor  were  losing  heavily 
by  this  lax  application  of  the  original  statute, 
and  claimed  that  '"  le  del,  les  rkleau.r,  Ic  loucJicr, 
la  courtepointe,  c^  autres  accompagnemcnts  des 
lifs  des  Chanoines"  (the  canopy,  curtains,  drap- 
eries, coverings,  and  other  accompaniments  of  tlie 


100  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

canons'  beds),  whether  of  silk,  silver,  gold,  or  any- 
other  fabric  or  material  which  luxury  had  added 
to  the  austere  customs  of  the  century  of  Maurice 
de  Sully,  should  be  theirs.  This  demand  was  ac- 
corded and  in  consequence  upon  the  death  of  Mon- 
sieur de  Gondy,  archbishop  of  Paris,  his  creditors 
were  condemned  to  deliver  to  the  Hotel-Dieu  his 
bed  and  all  the  appurtenances  thereof. 

The  famous  Salle  du  Legat,  whose  noble  renais- 
sance gable,  besides  the  Gothic  portals  of  the 
chapels,  made  the  chief  beauty  of  the  construction, 
stood  near  the  Petit  Pont,  and  was  founded  by 
Antoine  de  Prat,  the  ambassador  of  Pope  Clement 
VII.  Owing  to  the  restrictions  of  space  a  large 
hall  was  built  upon  an  arch  spanning  the  river, 
described  as  a  feat  of  engineering  in  its  day. 
(Cette  route  est  un  des  plus  liardis  Ouvragcs  de 
cette  espece.)  And  this  hall  communicated  with 
the  wing  of  the  building  which  stood  upon  the 
left  bank  of  the  Seine,  and  whose  recent  demoli- 
tion opens  up  that  glorious  vista  of  the  cathedral 
from  Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre.  And  it  now  be- 
comes clear  how  this  little  church  became  in  times 
of  stress  the  chapel  for  tlie  Hotel-Dieu,  and  was 
thus  saved  from  the  vandalism  of  the  Revolu- 
tionists. 

Old  writers  describe  the  original  little  Place  du 


THE  ANCIENT  CITE  101 

Parvis  Notre-Dame  as  embellished  by  a  fountain 
in  the  centre  and  planted  opposite  the  portal  of 
the  Hotel-Dieu  (until  1748)  a  large  statue  in 
stone,  supposed  by  several  savants  to  have  been 
Esculapius,  the  god  of  medicine,  by  others 
Erchinouald,  a  former  mayor  of  the  Palais,  in  the 
reign  of  Clovis  II,  and  who  according  to  Fauchet 
etoit  affectionnc  a  Vendroit  des  Ecclefiastiques  (| 
Prctres.  A  tradition  ran  that  he  had  not  only 
aided  Notre-Dame  but  that  he  had  furnished 
Saint-Landry  M'ith  the  funds  for  the  construction 
of  the  hospital.  But  the  scholarly  Abbe  Lebeuf 
states  with  great  simplicity  the  now  accepted 
theory,  that  this  statue  was  one  of  those  detached 
from  one  of  the  porticoes  of  the  old  cathedral 
(Saint-Etienne)  and  that,  though  greatly  disfig- 
ured by  exposure  to  the  elements,  it  represented 
Jesus  Christ  holding  the  book  of  the  Gospel  and 
grafted  upon  the  ancient  Law,  personified  by 
a  figure  of  Aaron  or  David,  serving  as  a  base. 

Behind  the  cathedral  was  the  Terrain,  a  garden 
for  the  use  of  the  canons  of  Notre-Dame,  whose 
houses  were  enclosed  within  the  cloisters  by  a  chain 
of  old  walls.  An  old  plan  de  tapisserie,  preserved 
in  the  collections  of  the  Bil)liotheque  Nationale, 
shows  Saint-Den is-du-Pas  tucked  in  behind  the 
cathedral  and  upon  the  border  of  the  Terrain. 


102  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Sainte-Marine  and  Saint-Pierre-aux-Boeufs  and 
Saint-Landiy  occupied  sites  on  the  north  side  of 
the  cathedral.  Saint-Landry,  founded  before  the 
Xllth  century,  perpetuated  the  pious  souvenir  of 
the  bishop  who  founded  the  Hotel-Dieu;  it  was 
built  upon  the  bank  of  the  river  where  according 
to  tradition  had  been  the  oratory  of  this  saint. 
From  1171  it  was  apportioned  to  the  chapter  of 
Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois.  Rebuilt  in  the  XVth 
century,  it  was  suppressed  by  the  Revolutionists, 
sold  and  demolished  in  1792. 

The  ancient  Rue  du  Chevet  led  under  the  choir 
of  this  church  to  the  Rue  Saint-Pierre-aux-Boeufs, 
on  the  eastern  side  of  which  was  a  church  of  that 
name,  a  name  commemorated  in  the  figures  of 
two  bulls  in  relief  which  ornamented  the  door  of 
the  church.  This  was  the  Capella-Sancti-Petri- 
de-Bobus,  mentioned  in  the  bull  of  Innocent  II 
(1136).  The  church  was  that  in  which  Herman 
de  la  Fosse,  converted  to  Paganism  by  his  clas- 
sical studies,  attacked  the  Host,  in  1503,  and  pro- 
claimed the  worship  of  Jupiter,  for  which  his 
tongue  was  branded  with  a  hot  iron,  his  hand  cut 
off,  and  himself  finally  burned  alive.  After  the 
execution,  so  runs  the  tale,  as  an  expiatory  pro- 
cession was  passing,  two  cows,  being  led  to  the 
butcher,  knelt  before  the  sacrament.     The  church 


THE  ANCIENT  CITE  103 

was  sold  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  and  de- 
graded to  all  sorts  of  secular  use.  It  stood  until 
1837.  Its  famous  door  was  applied  to  the  western 
entrance  of  Saint- Sever  in. 

Sainte-Marine,  upon  an  impasse  of  the  same 
name,  was  still  upright,  though  unrecognizahle,  in 
1866.  One  of  the  oldest  churches  of  the  island 
(it  dated  from  the  Xlth  century),  it  served  as 
parish  for  the  personnel  of  the  hishops'  palace 
and  the  court,  and  was  the  church  in  which  the 
free  unions  of  the  people  were  solemnized  by 
enforced  marriage.  Dubreul  relates  the  well- 
known  history  of  the  straw  ring  with  which  the 
curate  of  Sainte-]\Iarine  performed  these  cere- 
monies, enjoining  the  couples  to  live  in  peace  and 
amity  to  the  honour  of  their  parents  and  to  save 
their  souls  from  the  consequences  of  their  sin  and 
offence. 

Near  the  Pont-Neuf  was  Saint-Denis-de-la- 
Chartre,  an  old  church  built  probably  after  the 
incursions  of  the  Normans,  upon  the  supposed 
site  of  the  prison  in  which  Saint-Denis  was  said 
to  have  been  detained.  From  earliest  times  the 
cell  of  the  martyr  had  been  transformed  into  an 
oratory,  and  in  the  year  1015  a  convent  of  secular 
canons  was  founded  by  the  knight  Ansolde  and 
Rotrude,  his  wife,  to  the  glory  of  ^Monsieur  Saint- 


104  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Denis.  The  church  was  curious  in  that,  according 
to  antique  usage,  it  had  within  its  enclosure  two 
distinct  parishes,  one  in  the  nave  and  the  other 
in  the  aisles.  Suppressed  and  sold  at  the  time 
of  the  Revolution,  it  was  completely  altered  hut 
stood  until  1866. 

At  the  end  of  the  street — Rue  de  la  Pelleterie — 
which  opened  opposite  Saint-Denis-de-la-Chartre, 
stood  Saint-Barthelemy,  after  Notre-Dame  the 
most  important  religious  edifice  of  the  city.  At 
first  a  simple  chapel,  founded  and  endowed  by  the 
Merovingien  kings,  it  became  the  Eglise  Royale, 
the  parish  church  of  the  Palais.  Hugues  Capet 
gave  to  it  the  relics  of  Saint-]Magloire.  At  the 
time  of  the  Revolution  it  was  undergoing  im- 
provements and  in  its  unfinished  state  was  seized 
by  the  mob  and  disposed  of  as  a  theatre  and  dance 
hall.  It  stood  opposite  the  Grand'  Salle  of  the 
Palais,  and  its  remains  were  demolished  to  make 
way  for  the  new  Tribunal  of  Commerce.  Philippe 
Auguste  was  baptised  in  the  chapel  of  Saint- 
Michel,  situated  between  the  Rue  de  la  Barillerie 
(Boulevard  du  Palais)  and  the  court  of  the  Sainte- 
Chapelle,  upon  which  it  had  its  entrance.  It  dis- 
appeared in  the  widening  of  the  street. 

A  door  from  Sainte-Magdelene  when  the  last 
vestiges  of  this  old  church  were  demolished   was 


THE  ANCIENT  CITE  105 

applied  to  the  presbytery  of  Saint- Sever  in. 
Sainte-Magdelene  was  an  ancient  chapel  of 
Saint-Nicolas,  built  in  the  reign  of  Louis  VII, 
in  1140,  on  land  formerly  belonging  to  an  old 
synagogue.  Enlarged  from  time  to  time,  the 
synagogue  itself  was  transformed  into  a  church 
by  order  of  Philippe  Auguste,  and  took  the  name 
Magdelene  in  1461.  From  the  Xlllth  century 
the  curate  of  this  parish  bore  the  title  of  Archi- 
pretre,  which  gave  him  certain  supremacies  over 
the  other  curates  of  the  diocese,  and  the  little 
church  was  also  the  seat  of  one  of  the  old  con- 
fraternities, called  la  grande  Confrerie  de  Notre- 
Dame,  mix  Seigneurs,  Fretres,  (|  Bourgeois  de 
Paris.  At  the  time  of  its  demolition,  1794,  it 
embraced  the  parishes  of  Saint-Leu,  Saint- 
Gilles,  Saint-Christophe,  and  Sainte-Genevieve- 
des-Ardents. 

The  Revolution  did  its  work  so  well  that 
scarcely  a  trace  remains  to  recall  the  existence  of 
the  innumerable  chapels  and  churches  which 
formed  the  surroundings  of  the  cathedral,  making 
of  the  island  a  completely  harmonious  frame  for 
the  greater  edifice.  What  we  see  now  is  not  even 
the  first  generation  of  buildings  which  replace 
those  of  antiquity.  The  Prefecture  de  Police 
occupies  the  older  Caserne  de  la  Cite,  or  municipal 


106  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

barracks,  rising  sombre  and  forbidding  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Place  du  Parvis,  facing  the  great 
facade.  The  modern  Hotel-Dieu,  on  the  south 
side  of  the  same  space,  is  even  less  agreeable  to 
the  eye.  It  replaces  the  Hopital  des  Enfants 
Trouves,  whose  erection  cost  the  destruction  of 
many  picturesque  churches. 

What  the  Revolution  had  left  standing  of  the 
old  regime,  the  insurrection  of  1831  stamped  out 
thoroughly  and  finally.  The  Episcopal  Palace 
which  had  withstood  the  former  tragedy  was 
ruined  by  the  later  disaster,  and  one  of  the  most 
gorgeous  of  spectacles,  the  pompous  entry  of  a 
bishop  into  the  city,  was  forever  done  away  with. 

Under  Roman  dominion  Paris  was  comprised 
in  the  fourth  lyonnaise  or  division  of  imperial 
Gaul,  whose  centre  was  the  metropolis  of  Sens. 
The  first  religious  districts  were  determined  by 
the  old  political  boundaries,  and  thus  the  first 
Parisian  prelates  had  only  the  title  of  bishop 
while  the  seat  of  the  archbishop  was  at  Sens.  It 
was  Louis  XIII,  who,  in  1622,  obtained  from 
Pope  Gregoire  XV  the  establishment  of  an  arch- 
bishopric at  Paris. 

The  entry  of  a  new  bishop  into  the  diocese  of 
Paris  was  accompanied  by  magnificent  ceremonies. 
A  distinguished  delegation  consisting  of  aldermen 


THE  ANCIENT  CITE  107 

and  other  officers  of  the  city,  headed  by  the  pro- 
vost of  merchants,  advanced  without  the  walls  of 
the  city  as  far  as  the  Abbaye  Saint- Victor  (the  site 
now  covered  by  the  Halle  aux  Vins)  to  meet  the 
incoming  prelate.  The  bishop  mounted  a  white 
horse  and  the  cortege  proceeded  to  the  Eglise 
Sainte-Genevieve  within  the  walls  and  here  his 
prociireur  fiscal  called  in  a  loud  voice  for  the  vas- 
sals of  the  bishopric,  whose  duty  it  was  to  carry 
the  prelate's  chair.  Two  of  the  kings  of  France, 
Philippe  Auguste  and  Louis  IX,  owned  certain 
lands  by  which  they  became  vassals  to  the  bishop 
under  the  law,  were  liable  to  officiate  in  this  capacity, 
but  were  replaced  by  knights  of  their  house.  Four 
barons,  preceded  by  the  abbe  and  monks  of  Sainte- 
Genevieve,  carried  the  bishop  to  the  Rue  Neuve 
Notre-Dame,  before  the  Petite-Sainte-Genevieve — 
Sainte-Genevieve-des-Ardents — and  here  the  abbe 
presented  the  prelate  to  the  dean  and  canons  of 
Notre-Dame  and  these  conducted  him  to  the 
cathedral. 

At  the  threshold  of  the  cathedral  the  incumbent 
took  the  oath  of  office,  swearing  upon  the  Gospels 
to  conserve  the  privileges,  exemptions,  and  im- 
munities of  the  church  of  Paris,  and  upon  posses- 
sion followed  a  solemn  mass,  after  which  the  bishop 
was  conducted  to  his  palace,  where  he  gave  a  ban- 


108  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

quet  to  all  those  who  had  witnessed  the  ceremony. 

Little  by  little  it  was  all  destroyed,  the  pomp 
and  grandeur  disappeared,  and  in  the  upheaval 
of  1831  the  palace  was  sacked  by  a  furious  mob 
who  made  short  work  of  it  and  its  treasures.  An 
eyewitness  ^  describes  the  work  of  destruction : 
"  All  at  once  they  tore  out  the  grills  and  ramps 
of  the  stairways,  undermined  the  walls,  split  the 
ceilings,  threw  out  of  the  windows  marbles,  wood- 
carvings,  mirrors,  furniture.  A  troop  of  bar- 
barians made  a  chain  from  the  bihliotheque  of  the 
palace  to  the  parapet  of  the  quay,  and  precious 
books  and  manuscripts  passed  from  hand  to  hand 
and  were  tossed  into  the  river.  This  was  accom- 
plished amidst  savage  chants  and  howls,  while  a 
sacrilegious  mob  formed  about  the  enclosure  a 
grotesque  procession  clad  in  sacerdotal  habits. 
Thus  were  the  archbishops  of  Paris  despoiled  of 
their  ancient  dwelling." 

Before  the  destructions  of  the  Revolution  Paris 
possessed  at  least  as  many  churches  as  does  Rome 
to-day.  The  city,  including  its  faubourgs  and 
suburbs,  counting  chapters,  parishes,  abbeys, 
priories,  monasteries,  communities,  chapels,  and 
leper  hospitals,  contained  over  three  hundred  eccle- 
siastical  establishments.     The    XVIIIth   century 

*  M.' F.  de  Guilhermy:  Itineraire  Archeoloffique  de  Paris, 


THE  ANCIENT  CITE  109 

commenced  by  the  demolition  of  several  churches  in 
the  Cite  and  the  suppression  of  a  number  of  con- 
vents, but  under  the  radical  measures  of  the 
Revolution  churches  and  monasteries  were  alien- 
ated to  the  profit  of  the  state  or  adapted  to  public 
service,  while  speculators  parcelled  off  the  land 
and  cleared  away  the  monuments  of  antiquity. 

To-day  the  number  of  religious  institutions  is 
reduced  to  considerably  less  than  one-third  the 
former  number,  and  of  these  only  about  thirty 
churches  antedate  the  XVITIth  century,  while 
not  more  than  a  dozen  can  be  considered  as  be- 
longing to  the  Middle  Ages  or  the  Renaissance, 


CHAPTER  VI 
NOTRE-DAME 

It  was,  then,  into  such  an  already  thrilling 
environment  of  narrow  streets,  picturesque 
churches,  and  monastic  dwellings  that  Maurice  de 
Sully,  fired  with  the  ambition  to  build  for  pos- 
terity, introduced  his  unrecorded  architect — who 
erected  the  oldest  existing  parts  of  the  great 
cathedral. 

The  plan  which  the  bishop  undertook  to  exe- 
cute was  scarcely  inferior  to  what  we  see  to-day, 
though  most  of  it  has  been  effaced,  and  it  is  only 
above  the  great  arches  of  the  choir  and  apse  that 
the  semi-Roman  church  of  Maurice  de  Sully  re- 
veals itself  in  its  original  purity,  while  the  door 
dedicated  to  Sainte-Anne,  despite  its  adaptation 
to  a  later  facade  than  that  for  which  it  was  in- 
tended, is  an  eloquent  relic  of  the  original  design 
and  serves  to  tie  together  the  story  of  the 
builders. 

In  those  days  the  construction  of  such  vast 
edifices  as  Notre-Dame  was  sometimes  under- 
taken at  the  two  extremities,  so  that  the  facade 

110 


NOTRE-DAME  m 

was  often  contemporary  with  the  apse.  The 
cathedral  at  Saint-Denis  was  thus  undertaken  (an 
inscription  once  marked  the  point  where  the  two 
ends  grew  together)  and  this  seems  also  to  have 
been  the  case  with  Notre-Dame, 

The  first  stone  of  the  cathedral  was  laid  in  the 
reign  of  Louis  le  Jeune  by  Pope  Alexander  III 
during  his  exile  in  Paris,  in  1163,  and  the  build- 
ing was  so  far  advanced  during  the  first  nineteen 
years,  that  shortly  after  Philippe  Auguste  be- 
came king  (in  1182)  the  high  altar  was  conse- 
crated, and  three  years  later  Heraclius,  the 
patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  come  to  Paris  to  preach 
the  third  crusade,  officiated  in  the  choir.  Before 
the  high  altar  Bishop  Maurice  had  interred  the 
bodies  of  Geoffrey  Plantaganet,  comte  de  Bre- 
tagne,  son  of  Henry  II  of  England,  and  Philippe 
Auguste's  queen,  Isabelle  de  Hainaut. 

Upon  the  death  of  this  bishop,  in  1196,  the 
apse  was  finished  and  the  nave  well  under  way. 
His  will  provided  a  legacy  of  five  thousand  livres 
to  make  a  lead  roof  to  the  choir. 

Except  for  such  fragmentary  traces  of  Roman 
construction  of  which  one  has  spoken,  the  monu- 
ment, such  as  it  stands,  belongs  to  the  first  two 
periods  of  Gothic  architecture,  the  lanceole  of 
Philippe   Auguste   and    the   rayonnant   of   Louis 


112  A  L0ITERP:R  in  PARIS 

IX,  while  nothing  in  the  construction  antedates 
the  second  half  of  the  Xllth  century. 

The  great  western  front,  as  it  was  reconceived 
hy  the  successor  to  Maurice's  architect,  was  not 
begun  until  the  end  of  the  episcopacy  of  Pierre 
de  Nemours  (1208-1219).  That  the  work  went 
rapidly  we  know,  for  at  about  the  time  of  the 
death  of  Philippe  Auguste  (1223)  the  great 
front  was  practically  finished,  while  every  aspect 
of  the  chef-d'oeuvre  confirms  the  opinion  that  this 
superb  portail  was  the  conception  of  one  mind 
carried  through  from  the  base  of  the  elaborate 
entrances,  lying  closest  to  the  eye,  to  the  point 
where  the  severely  simple  towers  begin  to  detach 
from  the  mass,  under  the  enthusiasm  of  a  single 
artistic  impulse.  And  of  the  genius  that  con- 
ceived it  we  know,  alas,  nothing;  but,  says  Victor 
Hugo:  "  Lliomme,  Vartiste,  Vindividu  s' efface  sur 
CCS  grand es  masses  sans  nom  d'auteur,  rintelli- 
gence  humaine  s'y  resume  ct  s'y  totalise.  Le 
temps  est  architect,  le  peuple  est  le  ma^on." 

His  successor,  with  less  indifference  to  fame, 
inscribed  in  handsome  letters  upon  the  base  of 
the  southern  portail  of  the  transept  his  name  and 
date.  The  legend  reads  that  in  1257,  on  the 
second  day  of  the  ides  of  February,  Master  Jehan 
de  Chelles  commenced  this  work  in  honour  of  the 


NOTRE-DAME  113 

mother  of  Christ.  Then  reigned  Saint-Louis,  and 
Renaud  de  Corbeil  occupied  the  episcopal  chair. 
It  has  been  thought  that  from  the  second  half  of 
the  Xlllth  century,  also,  dates  the  arcade  above 
the  Virgin's  gallery  of  the  older  front,  and  that 
the  north  front,  the  Porte  Rouge,  of  the  ancient 
cloisters,  and,  within,  the  chapels  each  side  of 
the  transept  are  of  the  same  epoch  and  perhaps 
by  the  same  architect,  since  the  style,  the  char- 
acter of  the  sculpture,  and  even  the  stone  are  the 
same. 

The  side  chapels  of  the  nave  were  not  included 
in  the  original  plan — the  early  cathedrals, 
Chartres,  Rheims,  Saint-Denis,  etc.,  were  not  de- 
signed to  carry  chapels  along  the  nave — but  Jean 
de  Paris,  archdeacon  of  Soissons,  dying  about 
1270,  left  one  hundred  livres  tournois  ^  for  the 
construction  of  the  lateral  chapels,  which  seem 
all  to  be  contemporaneous.  The  chapels  of  the 
apse  were  a  little  later,  dating  from  the  end  of 
the  Xlllth  and  beginning  of  the  XlVth  cen- 
tury. An  inscription  affixed  to  the  pedestal  of 
a  monument  to  Bishop  Simon  Matiffas  de  Buci, 
formerly  at  the  entrance  to  the  chapel  of  Saint- 
Nicaise,    relates    that    this    chapel    with    the    two 

*  The  coins  minted  at  Tours  were  inferior  in  value,  and  weight, 
to  the  so-called  parisis,  made  in  Paris.  A  livre  parisis  was  worth 
about  one-fourth  more  than  a  livre  tournois. 


114  A  LOITEREK  IN  PARIS 

following  was  founded  by  that  prelate  in  1296, 
and  that  afterward  were  made  successively  all  the 
others  around  the  choir.  This  inscription,  so 
precious  to  archaeologists,  lay  for  years  forgotten 
in  the  cellars  of  Saint-Denis,  where  so  many  relics 
saved  from  the  vandals  of  the  Revolution  were 
hastily  housed. 

Notre-Dame  is  in  the  form  of  a  Latin  cross, 
with  two  great  blunt  towers  towards  the  west 
and  a  restored  spire  at  the  point  of  the  inter- 
section of  the  branches  of  the  cross.  Impressive 
from  all  angles  by  the  imposing  vigour  of  its  mass, 
it  is  the  monumental  fa9ade,  the  western  portail, 
which  contains  the  most  stirring  message,  repre- 
senting, as  one  author  has  said,  the  Xlllth  cen- 
tury in  its  most  marvellous  portrait. 

Popular  tradition  relates  that  as  it  first  ap- 
peared Notre-Dame  stood  upon  an  elevation 
above  the  Parvis  and  that  its  western  face  was 
preceded  by  a  flight  of  thirteen  steps — the  num- 
ber is  variously  stated — whose  masonry  made  for 
the  cathedral  an  admirable  base,  and  more  than 
one  writer  has  described  in  moving  language  the 
"  sea  of  Paris  paving  "  rising  and  devouring  one 
after  another  the  treads  of  its  pedestal.  That 
this  was  not  the  case  was  proven  by  the  excava- 
tions made  in  1847  about  the  base  of  the  edifice 


riiul'j  AUnari 


THE   ARCATURE   SUSPENDED  BETWEEN   THE  TOWERS. 
DETAIL.       NOTEE-DAME. 


NOTRE-DAME  117 

when  nothing  was  discovered  to  bear  out  the  tale. 
M.  Guilhermy,  whose  careful  description  of 
Notre-Dame  was  prepared  in  collaboration  with 
Viollet-le-Duc,  the  architect  of  the  restoration, 
thinks  that  it  is  probable  that  these  steps,  of 
which  so  many  authors  speak  without  having  ever 
seen  them,  existed  on  the  side  of  the  south  tower 
and  that  they  descended  towards  the  river. 

The  great  poi'tail  divides  into  three  parts  in 
width  and  five  in  height,  the  horizontal  line  being 
strongly  emphasized,  as  is  characteristic  of  early 
Gothic,  the  five  stories  graduated  with  utmost 
taste  and  skill  from  the  intricate  elaboration  of 
the  three  grand  portals  to  the  austerity  of  the 
square  towers  without  spires. 

Below,  the  three  large  Gothic  doors,  with  their 
deep  embrasures,  pointed  tympanums,  columns, 
pillars,  and  piers  all  richly  sculptured  and  peo- 
pled with  symbolic  and  historic  figures,  make 
the  first  of  the  horizontal  divisions.  The  statues 
on  the  niches  formed  ])y  the  buttresses  between 
the  doors  and  upon  the  ends  are  restored;  they 
represent  Saint-Etienne  to  the  north,  Saint-Denis 
to  the  south,  and,  between,  two  women's  figures 
usually  identified  as  personifying  the  Church  and 
the  Synagogue  and  readily  distinguishable — the 
Church,   proud   and   triumphant,   holds   her   head 


118  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

erect  with  her  eyes  fixed  upon  Christ — the  Syna- 
gogue, humihated  and  vanquished,  her  head 
dropped  and  her  eyes  bandaged.  The  Church, 
coiffed  with  a  diadem,  holds  u^^  the  cross  and 
the  chalice — the  Synagogue  lets  fall  her  crown, 
the  tables  of  the  law,  and  her  broken  standard. 
The  subject  is  familiar  to  the  student  of  Gothic 
churches  and  is  found  in  glass  and  in  stone  at 
Chartres,  Saint-Denis,  Rheims,  Bourges,  Lyon, 
and  many  other  churches  of  the  Xlllth  and 
XlVth  centuries. 

Ornate  bands  of  sculptured  leafage  frame  the 
lower  picture  and  separate  definitely  the  lower 
portion  of  the  fa9ade  from  the  gallery  of  kings. 
This  wide  band  of  upright  figures  was  demojished 
during  the  Revolution,  for  though  the  twenty- 
eight  effigies  were  supposed  to  represent  tlie 
kings  of  Israel  and  Judea,  and  as  ancestors  of 
the  Virgin  sacred  personages,*  tradition  said  that 
they  were  portraits  as  well  of  the  early  kings  of 
France,  which  made  them  the  legitimate  prey  of 
the  Revolutionists,  and  so  they  were  torn  from 
their  niches  and  destroyed.  These  effigies  were 
restored  under  Viollet-le-Duc. 

Above  the  band  of  kings  extends  the  Virgin's 
Gallery,  a  wider  plane  bordered  at  the  top  by  a 
rich    band    of    leaf    moulding,    which    makes    the 


NOTRE-DAME  119 

finish  of  this  earh'est  portion  of  the  fa9ade.  It 
divides  definitely  into  the  three  parts  indicated 
by  the  three  doors  of  the  ground  floor,  and  the 
towers  with  the  space  between  of  the  upper 
stories.  Here  are  five  sculptured  figures  (re- 
stored)— in  the  centre  a  group  composed  of  the 
Virgin,  carrying  the  Infant,  flanked  by  two  an- 
gels holding  candlesticks,  to  the  left  Adam  and 
to  the  right  Eve.  The  restorations  are  by 
Dechaume,  Chenillon,  and  Fromanger.  At  the 
time  of  the  mutilation  of  the  cathedral  and 
buildings  in  general,  a  small  sane  minority  stood 
out  for  the  preservation  of  works  of  art,  and  a 
provisional  museum  was  installed  in  the  convent 
of  the  Petits-Augustins  as  an  asylum  for  rescued 
statues  and  monuments.  The  original  figure  of 
Adam,  a  work  of  the  XlVth  century,  was 
amongst  the  rescued,  and  though  badly  mutilated, 
still  exists,  in  the  storerooms  at  Saint-Denis. 
The  figure  is  entirely  nude  and  of  curious  work- 
manship. 

Behind  the  group  of  the  Virgin  and  angels  the 
simple  tracery  of  the  early  Gothic  rose  occupies 
the  centre  of  this  story,  building  up  from  the 
wide  Porte  du  Jugement,  its  gorgeous  colouring 
illuminating  all  the  front  part  of  the  nave.  This 
central  window  is  balanced  by  groups  at  the  sides 


120  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

consisting  of  smaller  blind  roses  in  stone  held  in 
the  opening  between  pairs  of  double-pointed  win- 
dows, which  carry  the  composition  of  the  lateral 
entrances.  Large,  ornamental  trefoils  in  stone 
fill  the  corner  spaces  of  these  divisions. 

We  now  come  to  the  end  of  the  work  of  that 
mysterious  early  architect,  whose  name  has  not 
come  down  to  us,  for  here,  in  the  slender  arcade 
of  pointed  arches,  in  elaborate  and  beautiful 
carving,  archaeologists  see  a  new  beginning,  dat- 
ing from  about  the  time  that  Jehan  de  Chelles 
commenced  the  south  front.  It  is  at  this  story 
that  the  two  massive  towers  begin  to  disengage 
themselves  from  the  general  mass  of  the  facade, 
tlie  break  being  skilfully  veiled  by  this  exquisite 
arcature,  which,  suspended  between  the  towers  in 
a  double  file,  continues  around  their  four  sides, 
tying  them  together  by  a  delicate  tracery  of  ele- 
gant lines,  and  at  the  same  time  screening  the 
abruptness  of  their  detachment.  Where  the 
arcature  encounters  a  buttress,  the  columns  and 
pointed  arches  are  no  longer  disengaged  but  lie 
close  upon   the   stone. 

A  balustrade  cut  in  open  quatrefoils  binds  the 
top  of  the  arches,  and  it  is  upon  this  balustrade 
that  perch  the  replicas  of  those  celebrated  birds, 
demons,   and  monsters   that   legend  has   made   so 


NOTRE-DAME  121 

famous.  Many  of  the  originals  in  falling  had 
left  their  claws  gripped  to  the  parapet. 

A  slight  difference  in  the  width  of  the  towers 
reveals  itself  upon  attentive  observation,  giving 
them  a  rather  interesting  irregularity.  Such  un- 
important inequalities  are  not  uncommon;  whether 
the  result  of  accident  or  design  in  this  case  is 
not  known.  Many  things  may  have  decided  this 
difference.  The  towers,  which  are  of  equal 
height,  at  first  appear  identical,  but  looking 
closely  one  sees  that  the  south  tower  is  perceptibly 
more  slender  than  its  companion;  the  difference 
shows  not  only  in  the  entire  bulk  but  in  the  width 
of  the  pairs  of  pointed  windows,  and  is  more 
definitely  stated  in  the  gallery  of  the  kings,  where 
the  space  between  the  buttresses  below  the  north 
tower  accommodates  eight  of  the  effigies  while  the 
corresponding  space  below  the  south  tower  is 
filled  by  seven. 

The  Revolutionists  destroyed,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  gallery  of  kings  and  tore  from  the  doors  and 
niches  every  symbol  of  royalty,  meanwhile  re- 
specting  the  sacred  personages  of  the  archivolts 
and  tympanums.  Now  an  act  of  the  municipal 
council,  issued  in  the  month  Brumaire,  An.  2, 
condemned  also  the  saints.  The  very  portail 
itself   trembled   upon    its    foundations;   but   these 


122  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

were  droll  times,  and  the  quickest  wit  triumphed. 

In  the  face  of  so  much  opposition,  worked 
valiantly  a  secret  band  of  friends  of  the  beautiful, 
and  those  who  stood  for  the  preservation  of  the 
statues  resorted  to  clever  artifices  to  obtain  their 
ends. 

Since  it  was  useless  to  appeal  to  the  old  faith 
of  the  populace  ("  reason  "  having  taken  the  place 
of  religious  belief  and  sentiment)  scientific  argu- 
ments were  urged,  and  the  citizen  Chaumette,  the 
chief  magistrate  of  the  Commune,  got  the  ears  of 
his  fanatical  colleagues  by  telling  them  that  the 
astronomer  Dupuis  had  found  his  planetary  sys- 
tem in  one  of  the  lateral  doors  of  the  cathedral. 

Their  ignorance  was  as  prodigious  as  their 
hate  was  strong  and  without  stopping  to  question 
the  probability  of  this  statement,  Dupuis  was 
clapped  upon  the  committee  for  the  administra- 
tion of  public  works,  with  power  to  save  the 
monuments  worthy  to  be  known  to  posterity. 
His  intervention  saved  what  was  left.  Chaumette 
was  guillotined  within  the  year. 

Since  the  outbreak  of  "  our  "  war  the  ascent  to  the 
towers  has  been  forbidden,  and  at  present  writing 
the  little  door  in  the  north  tower  has  a  forbidding 
aspect  as  though  permanently  closed.  But  as  life 
resumes  its  normal  routine  no  doubt  the  revenue 


NOTRE-DAME  123 

coming  in  from  visitors  to  the  towers  if  not  less 
material  considerations  will  restore  the  ancient 
privilege.  Xot  only  is  the  view  of  Paris  well 
worth  the  mount,  but  the  impression  to  be  gained 
of  the  colossal  proportions  of  the  building  itself  by 
a  walk  through  the  towers,  the  terraces,  and  gal- 
leries is  not  to  be  missed.  In  the  upper  stories  are 
vast  vaulted  chambers,  and  in  each  tower  at  the 
height  of  the  Virgin's  gallery  is  an  immense  room, 
where  light  pouring  through  the  double-pointed 
windows,  seems  to  magnify  the  forms  of  the  archi- 
tecture. In  a  corner  of  each  of  these  rooms  is  a 
remarkable  stairway,  walled  up  in  a  tower  of  stone, 
pierced  by  narrow  slits  of  light. 

The  bells  had  formerly  a  great  reputation ;  there 
were  seven  in  the  north  tower  and  six  in  the  central 
tower  of  the  transept,  while  the  two  largest,  called 
the  bourdons  of  Xotre-Dame,  were  placed  in  the 
south  tower.  The  name  of  course  is  derived  from 
the  great  resonance  of  such  bells,  whose  quality 
resembles  the  droning  of  a  bumble-bee. 

The  smaller  of  the  two  bourdons  was  destroyed 
but  Notre-Dame  preserves  the  larger  and  more 
harmonious.  It  weighs  thirty-two  milliers.  A 
long  Latin  inscription  tells  its  history  in  relief  on 
the  metal.  The  bell  was  a  gift  of  Jean  de  Montaigu 
(brother  of  Gerard,  a  bishop  of  Paris) ,  in  1400,  and 


124  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

was  called  by  him  Jacqueline  after  his  wife,  Jac- 
queline de  La  Grange.  Recast  in  1686  the  bell  was 
rebaptised  Emmanuel-Louise-Therese  d'Autriche, 
in  honour  of  Louis  XIV  and  Marie-Therese  of  Aus- 
tria, the  original  quantity  of  metal  being  more  than 
doubled  by  the  chapter. 

Though  to  the  architects  of  the  restoration  it 
was  evident  that  the  cathedral  had  been  designed 
and  prepared  to  carry  steeples  of  stone  upon  its 
towers,  Viollet-le-Duc  and  his  collaborator  de- 
cided against  the  addition,  thinking  that  the 
edifice  would  gain  nothing  by  completing  a  design 
which  its  builders  had  left  unachieved.  As  Guil- 
hermy  points  out  in  his  treatise  upon  the  l)uild- 
ing,  nothing  in  the  construction  showed  that 
means  lacked  to  carry  the  work  to  completion, 
and  if  the  architect  of  the  Xlllth  century 
stopped  at  the  spires,  it  is  likely  that  he  himself 
condemned  his  first  project. 

Between  the  towers  is  a  large  reservoir  con- 
taining water  for  immediate  use  in  case  of  fire. 

Behind  the  arcature,  between  the  towers,  rises 
the  gable  of  the  nave,  upon  whose  point  stands 
the  figure  of  an  angel,  sounding  the  trumpet, 
which  is  contemporary  with  the  facade,  its  shel- 
tered position  having  preserved  it  from  all  harm. 
Standing  far  enough   back   from   the   edifice   one 


Phoin  Alinari 


NOTRE-DAME. 

MONSTERS   AMONGST   THE   TOWERS. 


>IO.N.STKKS    AMOACiST    THE    TOWERS. 
.NOTRE-UA.VIE. 


Phuto  Alinari 


DEATH   OF  THE   VIRGIN. 
APSE    OF   KOTRE-DAME. 


NOTRE-DAME  127 

can  see  the  angel  upon  the  point  of  the  gable; 
and  beyond,  rising  from  the  intersection  of  the 
cross,  the  foliated  fleche,  of  wood  covered  bj^  lead, 
(a  restoration  by  Viollet-le-Duc)  may  be  seen 
between  tlie  towers,  giving  the  aerial  line  which 
relieves  the  monotony  of  the  horizontals. 

There  are  six  doors  to  the  cathedral,  including 
the  little  Porte  Rouge  of  the  cloisters,  the  small- 
est but  by  no  means  the  least  interesting.  The 
great  central  door  is  called  the  Porte  du  Juge- 
ment,  that  beneath  the  north  tower  the  Porte 
de  la  Vierge,  that  under  the  south  tower  the 
Porte  Sainte-Anne.  The  Porte  Saint-Etienne  is 
the  entrance  to  the  southern  fa9ade;  the  Porte  du 
Cloitre  and  the  Porte  Rouge  open  upon  the  Rue 
des  Cloitres  Notre  Dame.  Upon  these  doors  and 
their  embrasures  we  find  the  whole  story  of  re- 
ligion, with  its  facts,  its  myths,  its  legends,  its 
superstitions.  In  order  to  appreciate  the  spirit 
of  the  embellishment,  one  must  put  one's  self 
back  many  centuries,  one  must  remember  the  mis- 
sion of  a  cathedral  in  ancient  times. 

The  cathedral  was  the  great  popular  movement  of 
the  JNIiddle  Ages ;  it  was  not  only  a  place  of  prayer 
and  the  House  of  God,  but  the  centre  of  the 
intellectual  movement,  the  repository  of  all  the 
traditions    of    art    and    of    human    consciousness. 


128  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

What  we  place  in  museums  they  confided  to  the 
church.  Guillaume  Durand,  in  his  Rationale  des 
Divins  Offices,  says  that  in  several  churches  they 
suspended  ostrich  eggs  and  other  rare  and  re- 
markable objects  in  order  that  people  should  be 
attracted  to  church.  In  the  cathedrals  of  Laon, 
Rheims,  Bayeux,  Comminges,  Saint-Denis,  Saint- 
Beryin,  and  in  the  Sainte-Chapelle  of  Paris,  etc., 
were  preserved  skeletons  of  whales,  stuffed  croco- 
diles, horns  of  unicorns,  claws  of  griffins,  cameos, 
and  antique  vases.  What  we  seek  in  books  the 
populace  of  the  Middle  Ages  read  in  living  char- 
acters on  the  embrasures  of  doors,  or  in  the  glass 
of  windows — it  all  comes  back  to  that  first  mission 
of  art,  which  was  religious  instruction.  And  that 
explains  why  side  by  side  with  religious  scenes 
we  find  so  many  homely  secular  subjects,  the 
whole  forming  an  encyclopaedia  of  knowledge 
adapted  to  all  and  read  by  all. 

The  Porte  du  Jugement  deals,  as  its  name  im- 
plies, with  the  second  advent  of  Christ.  From 
the  point  of  view  of  the  religious  terror,  the  emo- 
tional keynote  of  the  entire  port  ail,  this  door  is 
perhaps  the  most  eloquent  of  the  six,  and  will 
reward  the  closest  study— though  the  consensus 
of  opinion  awards  the  palm  of  pure  beauty  to  the 


NOTRE-DAME  129 

Porte  de  la  Vierge,  and  to  the  writer  the  Porte 
Sainte-Anne  is  by  far  the  most  interesting. 

The  artist's  conception  of  the  Day  of  Judg- 
ment is  simple  and  naive.  The  Christ  against 
the  central  pillar  (all  restored)  is  represented  as 
he  was  in  mortal  life,  holding  the  Book  of  Life. 
At  his  sides  range  the  twelve  apostles  accom- 
panied by  the  virtues  which  lead  to  Paradise  and 
the  vices  which  lead  to  Hell. 

Above,  in  the  lower  zone  of  the  tympanum  sits, 
in  glory,  the  Son  of  God,  and  around  him  appear 
ranged  after  the  rules  of  the  mysterious  hierarchy, 
the  angels  and  the  powers  of  Heaven,  the  glorious 
troop  of  the  prophets,  and  the  white  army  of  mar- 
tyrs. Doctors  and  virgins  complete  the  divine 
cortege.  Under  the  feet  of  the  Judge  humanity 
rises  from  the  dead  at  the  sound  of  the  trumpet. 
To  the  right  hand  of  Christ  the  elect,  guided  by 
angels,  take  possession  of  the  kingdom  prepared 
for  them,  while  to  his  left  the  rejected,  conducted 
by  devils,  fall  into  the  flames.  The  whole 
allegory  is  carried  out  in  the  immense  detail  of 
the  deep  soffit,  or  voussoir,  restored  after  ancient 
documents  and  meriting  long  study. 

The  pier,  the  Christ  upon  the  pier,  and  the 
lower  zone  of  the  tympanum  are  restored,  having 


130  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

been  torn  out — not  by  the  Revolutionists,  but  by 
one  of  the  most  famous  architects  of  the  XVIIIth 
century,  with  the  consent  and  concurrence  of  the 
chapter.  We  must  know  that  the  enemies  of 
rehgion  were  not  the  only  ones  to  lay  violent 
hands  upon  the  ancient  beauty  of  the  cathedral, 
but  that  the  piety,  which,  at  great  expense,  pre- 
tended to  rejuvenate  the  edifice  for  the  more 
practical  service  of  the  cult,  did  perhaps  the  more 
insidious  mischief. 

Until  the  XVIIIth  century  the  ancient  form 
of  the  church  seems  to  have  been  respected,  but 
Louis  XIII,  actuated  no  doubt  as  much  by 
vanity  as  by  piety,  began  a  series  of  mutilations 
and  changes  which  have  gone  on  until  this  day. 
The  damage  which  he  instigated  affected  the  in- 
terior, but  disastrous  as  it  was,  it  was  slight  as 
compared  to  the  profanation  of  the  central  portal 
undertaken  by  Soufflot  at  the  demand  of  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities. 

Each  of  the  doors  of  Notre-Dame  is  divided 
into  two  valves  by  a  pier  standing  in  the  middle 
bearing  an  upright  figure.  The  idea  was,  in  1771, 
when  the  alterations  were  made,  that  processions 
and  ceremonies  were  impeded  by  this  pillar,  which 
obstructed  the  doorway,   itself,   also,  become  too 


NOTRE-DAME  131 

low  to  admit  of  effective  entrance.  Accordingly 
Soufflot  tore  out  the  pier,  with  its  statue  of 
Christ,  and  the  pedestal  covered  with  curious 
reliefs.  To  raise  the  arch  of  the  new  door  the 
whole  of  the  lower  part  of  the  tympanum  was 
gashed  out,  without  respect  for  the  beautiful 
sculpture  of  the  Last  Judgment. 

Geoffrey  Dechaume,  one  of  the  ablest  of  the 
sculptors  who  worked  under  Viollet-le-Duc,  re- 
stored the  Christ  of  the  central  pillar,  upon  the 
models  existing  at  Amiens  and  Rheims,  and 
restored  the  second  panel  of  the  tympanum,  which 
contains  some  of  the  original  sculpture.  The 
lower  zone  was  replaced  by  Toussaint  and  is 
entirely  modern. 

The  third  panel  of  the  tympanum  remains 
intact.  Christ  as  the  Judge  sits  on  the  tribunal, 
with  the  earth  as  his  footstool.  Two  angels  stand 
at  his  sides,  showing  the  instruments  of  his  Pas- 
sion, and  a  little  behind  these  the  Virgin  and 
John,  the  Evangelist,  kneel  with  hands  joined 
imploring  pity  for  sinners.  The  Virgin  wears 
her  crown,  veil,  robe,  and  mantle.  Saint  John  is 
represented  according  to  the  tradition  of  the 
Latin  church,  as  a  youth,  without  a  beard,  wear- 
ing a  long  robe,  and  his  feet  bare.     This  group 


132  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

of  five  figures  fills  the  point  of  the  tympanum 
and  is  considered  one  of  the  cliej-d'oeuvres  of  the 
Xlllth  century. 

The  voussoir  of  this  door,  in  six  choirs  of  figures, 
is  one  of  the  most  important  and  beautiful  now 
existing.  To  the  right  of  Christ  are  the  angels,  the 
archangels,  and  the  saints,  while  to  the  left,  Satan 
and  the  devils.  The  demonology  of  Notre-Dame 
has  seemingly  exhausted  the  singular  imagination 
of  its  creators. 

In  certain  lights  and  at  a  proper  distance  one 
can  still  quite  clearly  get  the  impression  of  the 
gold  leaf  and  colour  which  once  added  charm  to 
the  doors,  for  we  know  that  all  this  sculpture  was 
once  painted  and  gilded.  Standing  alongside  the 
statue  of  Charlemagne,  in  the  Parvis,  the  central 
tympanum  still  shows  the  warmth  and  glow  of  the 
effaced  decoration. 

The  Porte  de  la  Vierge  is  considered  the  most 
beautiful  of  the  entrances  to  the  cathedral. 
Viollet-le-Duc  describes  it  as  a  poem  in  stone. 
("  Cette  porte  est  tout  un  poeme  en  pierre") 
Upon  the  central  pier  of  the  door  is  a  statue  of 
the  Virgin,  not  the  original — that  was  sent  to 
Saint-Denis — but  another  of  the  XVth  century, 
taken  from  the  old  church  of  Saint-Aignan  and 
added  to  the  door  in  1818.     It  is  dry  and  man- 


NOTRE-DAME  133 

nered  and  cold,  and  one  sees  at  once  that  it  is  out 
of  sympathy  with  the  rest  of  the  sculpture  here. 
The  pedestal  has  also  lost  its  original  reliefs  and 
what  we  see  is  restoration. 

The  Virgin  holds  in  her  arms  the  Redeemer, 
and  tramples  under  foot  the  serpent,  with  a 
woman's  head  and  wings,  whose  tail  is  curled 
around  the  trunk  of  the  tree  of  knowledge.  Adam 
and  Eve  stand  one  on  each  side  of  the  tree,  tempted 
by  the  serpent;  on  the  left  side  of  the  pedestal 
is  carved  the  creation  of  Eve  and  on  the  right 
the  dismissal  from  Paradise.  This  sculpture  forms 
the  ornate  base  to  the  statue,  while  above  the 
head  of  the  Virgin  is  a  dais,  supported  by  two 
angels  with  censers.  Over  the  dais  is  a  little 
building  covered  by  a  similar  canopy. 

This  little  building  divides  into  two  spaces  the 
first  panel  of  the  tympanum,  in  which,  to  the  right 
of  the  Virgin,  are  seated  three  prophets,  their 
heads  covered  with  veils,  and  on  the  left  three 
kings,  crowned,  and  all  six  hold  a  banderole  with 
a  meditative  air.  The  prophets  are  present  for 
the  advent  of  the  Messiah,  and  the  kings  as 
ancestors  of  the  Virgin.  The  sculpture  is  re- 
markable in  its  realism  controlled  by  the  Gothic 
convention.  Viollet-le-Duc  considers  these  six 
figures  as  the  most  beautiful  of  this  epoch,  which 


134  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

have  come  down  to  us;  the  heads  are  expressive 
and  lifehke. 

The  second  zone  represents  the  entombment  of 
the  Virgin.  In  the  central  group  two  angels  hold 
the  extremities  of  the  shroud  and  lower  the  body 
into  a  rich  sarcophagus.  The  Virgin  is  young 
and  full  of  grace,  with  her  hands  crossed  upon  her 
breast.  Behind  the  coffin  stands  Christ  in  an  atti- 
tude of  benediction  surrounded  by  the  twelve 
apostles — at  the  head  of  the  tomb,  Peter,  and  at 
the  foot,  John. 

In  the  point  of  the  tympanum  Mary  is  glorified 
as  the  queen  of  angels  and  men.  Christ  shares 
her  throne  and  has  just  placed  upon  her  head  a 
crown  brought  by  an  angel.  Two  other  angels 
kneel  to  fill  the  angles  of  the  space  and  hold 
towards  the  central  group  candlesticks  with  lights. 

The  sculptor  has  exhausted  his  subject  in  order 
to  fill  the  four  choirs  of  the  soffit,  with  historic 
personages  and  devices,  all  of  which  contribute 
in  detail  to  the  ensemble  of  the  scene.  A  hand- 
some band  of  ornamental  sculpture  finishes  the 
pointed  arch  of  the  archivolt,  but  in  order  to  give 
special  relief  to  the  whole,  a  large  moulding  in 
the  form  of  a  gable  outlines  a  depression  in  the 
stone,  and  this  form  springs  from  two  small 
cokmins. 


fhoto  Alinari 


SATAN    AND    THE    DEVILS. 

DETAIL   FROM   THE   VOUSSOIB   OF   THE   PORTE   DU   JUGEMENT. 

NOTRE-DAME. 


Photo  Alinari 


LA   PORTE    DE   LA   VIERGE. 
NOTRE-DAME. 


NOTRE-DAME  137 

Four  statues  flank  each  side  of  the  enirance, 
carrying  the  height  and  general  style  of  the  figure 
upon  the  middle  pier.  To  the  right  of  the  Virgin 
is  Saint-Denis  between  two  angels,  carrying  his 
head,  and  then  Constantin.  On  the  opposite  side, 
facing  Constantin,  is  the  pope,  Saint-Sylvestre, 
next  him  Sainte-Genevieve,  then  Saint-Etienne 
and  John  the  Baptist.  These  statues  are  accom- 
panied by  little  related  figures  which  serve  as 
pedestals,  filling  the  triangular  spaces  between 
the  arcade  under  the  figures.  Each  one  has  its 
special  significance  and  will  reward  close  atten- 
tion. For  example,  under  Saint-Denis  is 
the  figure  of  the  executioner  with  his  axe, 
under  Saint-Etienne  a  man  with  a  stone  in  his 
hand,  under  Constantin  a  dog  and  a  bird  to 
signify  Christianity  triumphing  over  the  demon, 
etc. 

Against  this  wall,  under  the  arches,  are  again 
little  scenes  in  flat  relief,  much  mutilated,  which 
amplify  the  stories  of  the  saints  to  which  they 
refer.  Thus,  under  Saint-Denis  and  Saint- 
Etienne,  their  martyrdom;  under  Sainte-Gene- 
vieve, the  young  girl,  accompanied  by  an  angel, 
receiving  benediction  from  a  hand  which  comes 
through  a  cloud,  under  John  the  Baptist,  the 
executioner  handing  the  head  to  the  daughter  of 


138  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Herodias;  under  the  angels  the  conflict  between 
good  and  bad  sph-its;  etc. 

The  beauty  and  antiquity  of  this  entrance  is 
greatly  enhanced  by  a  quantity  of  little  panels, 
sculptured  in  relief  upon  the  two  faces  of  the 
jambs  of  the  door.  The  Earth,  represented  by 
a  woman  holding  a  plant  in  her  hands,  and 
Water,  by  a  woman  riding  a  fish  and  holding  a 
boat,  in  line  with  the  reliefs  just  described,  are 
the  keynotes  of  a  whole  composition  upon  these 
subjects.  Above  these  the  panels  make  an 
almanac  in  stone,  figuring  the  signs  of  the  zodiac 
together  with  the  different  occupations  of  the 
months  and  seasons,  and  trees  and  shrubs,  carved 
with  astonishing  fidelity  to  nature.  This  feature, 
perhaps  more  than  any  other,  makes  the  unique 
beauty  of  the  Porte  de  la  Vierge,  of  which  every 
surface  is  covered  with  sculpture  without  in  the 
least  detracting  from  its  simplicity.  The  few 
reliefs  upon  the  side-posts  of  the  Porte  du  Juge- 
ment  are  without  importance,  while  the  older 
Porte  Sainte-Anne  is  austerely  plain. 

The  Porte  Sainte-Anne,  dedicated  to  the 
mother  of  the  Virgin,  expresses  the  moment  of 
transition  from  Roman  to  Gothic  architecture  and 
has  many  points  of  interest  and  importance.  The 
loiterer  who  has  already  visited  the  cathedral  of 


NOTRE-DAME  139 

Saint-Denis  will  at  once  recognize  the  analogy 
between  the  general  aspect  of  this  door  and  the 
fa9ade  of  the  older  cathedral.  This  third  entrance 
is  thought  to  date,  in  its  essential  construction, 
from  the  Xllth  century,  to  be  contemporary  with 
the  apse,  to  be,  in  fine,  the  door  which  Maurice 
de  Sully  intended  for  the  central  portal  of  the 
primitive  plan;  while  in  its  details  it  assembles 
some  of  the  features  of  the  earlier  churches. 

During  the  half-century  which  elapsed  between 
the  conception  of  the  cathedral  and  the  building 
of  the  fa9ade  the  Roman  style  ceded  to  Gothic, 
and  this  door  is  exceedingly  curious  as  showing 
a  deliberate  transformation  to  agree  with  the  new 
laws  of  the  Xlllth  century.  The  architect  under 
Philippe  Auguste  appears  to  have  taken  the  door 
designed  for  the  axis  of  the  nave,  and,  while 
creating  for  his  main  entrance  grander  forms  and 
richer  ornamentation,  to  have  respected  the  work 
of  his  predecessor,  to  have  reserved  for  it  an 
honourable  place. 

As  it  is  narrower  and  more  slender  in  all  its 
parts  than  its  companion,  the  Porte  de  la  Vierge, 
it  has  seemed  to  me  not  impossible  that  this  door 
itself  decided  the  diminished  width  of  the  south 
tower  and  the  whole  of  that  division  of  the  great 
portail.     This   theory   I   advance   for   what   it   is 


140  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

worth.  I  have  not  seen  it  stated  by  any  of  the 
authorities  on  the  subject  of  the  cathedral. 

This  Roman  door  became,  then,  one  of  the 
lateral  entrances  to  the  church,  but  since  it  was 
too  low  to  accord  with  its  companion,  the  Porte 
de  la  Vierge,  the  tympanum  was  raised  by  the 
introduction  of  another  panel  of  sculpture — the 
lowest — while  the  round  Roman  arch  was  changed 
to  the  Gothic  ogive  by  the  simple  building  up  of 
a  point;  while  some  new  figures  were  added  to 
the  choirs  of  the  voussoir,  in  order  to  fill  the  thus 
amplified  bay.  All  this  is  done  so  frankly  that 
it  is  a  simple  matter  to  see  what  parts  of  the  door 
are  original  and  which  have  been  added. 

The  stylobate  with  its  ornaments  was  restored 
about  1850,  the  old  decoration  having  been  sadly 
damaged.  Above  this  base  in  careful  restoration 
one  sees  four  statues  at  each  side,  replacing 
the  originals  of  extreme  antiquity,  which  were 
described  by  the  Abbe  Lebeuf,  and  otliers  who 
had  seen  them,  as  having  without  doubt  been 
relics  from  the  old  Saint-Etienne,  the  ecclesia 
senior.  They  are  described  as  having  been  very 
flat  in  their  modelling,  as  opposed  to  the  round 
forms  of  the  figures  on  the  other  doors,  a  char- 
acteristic of  all  the  statues  before  the  reigns  of 
Pepin    and    Charlemagne,    and    are    supposed    to 


Photo  Alinari 


DETAIL  FROM   THE   PORTE   DE   LA  VIERGE. 

SAINT-DENIS   BETWEEN   TWO  ANGELS   AND  CONSTANTIN. 

NOTRE-DAME. 


I'hoLu  Allnari 


DETAIL   FROM   THE   PORTE   DE   LA  VIERGE. 
NOTRE-UAilE. 


I'holo  Alinafi 


TYMPANUM   OF   THE   PORTE    SAINTE-ANNE. 
XII TH    AND   XIII TH    CENTURIES. 
NOTRE-DAME. 


NOTRE-DAME  143 

have  resembled  in  style  and  subject  the  figures  of 
the  western  portail  of  the  cathedral  of  Chartres. 

Lebeuf  considered  them  as  representing  Saint 
Peter  and  Saint  Paul  to  the  left  and  right  of  the 
entrance,  followed  by  Solomon  and  David  (with 
the  lyre),  Sheba  and  Bathsheba  as  biblical  symbols 
of  the  church,  and  two  kings  representing  the 
royal  genealogy  of  the  Virgin.  On  the  other 
hand,  Bernard  de  Montfaucon,  who  engraves  them 
in  his  Les  Monuments  de  la  Monarchie  Fran^aise, 
considers  the  royal  personages  as  portraits  of  the 
kings  and  queens  of  the  Merovingien  line,  an 
argument  which  is  much  the  more  attractive. 

The  four  figures  to  the  right,  on  coming  out 
of  the  church,  are  Saint  Peter,  a  king  who  holds 
a  book  and  a  sceptre,  a  queen,  and  another  king. 
The  four  to  the  left  are  Saint  Paul,  a  king  hold- 
ing a  stringed  instrument,  a  queen,  and  a  king 
holding  a  sceptre.  Though  de  Montfaucon  admits 
the  difficulty  of  recognizing  the  portraits  with 
accuracy,  he  conjectures  that  the  king  holding  the 
violin  could  readily  be  Chilperic,  who,  according 
to  Gregoire  de  Tours,  made  hymns  and  chants 
for  the  church,  and  who  considered  himself  some- 
what of  a  musician.  From  this  he  divines  that 
the  first  king,  holding  a  book,  could  be  Clotaire  I, 
the   father   of   Chilperic,   the   queen   who   follows 


144  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

would  then  be  Aregoiide,  his  mother,  and  the  last 
king,  Gontran,  the  king  of  Burgundy.  The  first 
king  in  the  next  band,  opposite  Gontran,  would 
be  Chilperic,  followed  by  one  of  his  queens,  the 
ferocious  Fredegonde  (who  was  long  a  refugee 
from  justice  in  the  older  church) ,  and  the  last,  next 
to  Saint  Paul,  Clotaire  II,  son  of  Chilperic 
and  Fredegonde,  in  whose  reign  must  have 
been  built  this  portal.  In  favour  of  this  conjec- 
ture, points  out  de  Montfaucon,  only  the  first  and 
last  of  these  kings  carried  the  sceptre — Clotaire  I 
and  Clotaire  II,  who  were  kings  of  Paris. 

This  writer  also  calls  attention  to  the  nimbi 
at  the  heads  of  the  royal  personages,  as  the  only 
kings'  portraits  thus  decorated.  Others  wearing 
the  nimbus  are  statues  of  saints.  The  first  kings 
of  France  took  the  nimbus  in  imitation  of  the 
Roman  emperors,  whom  they  also  followed  in  the 
form  of  their  money.  This  custom  of  denoting 
royalty  died  out  with  the  first  race  and  at  the  time 
of  Pepin  and  Charlemagne  was  no  longer  in  vogue. 

This  door  is  sometimes  called  Porte  Saint- 
Marcel  from  the  long  slim  figure  against  the 
dividing  pier  (carefully  recut  from  the  original 
preserved  in  the  Cluny  Museum).  Saint-Marcel 
was  the  ninth  bishop  of  Paris — he  died  in  i36. 
His  statue  dates   from  the   Xlllth  century   but 


NOTRE-DAME  145 

appears  even  earlier.  The  portraiture  is  helped 
hy  the  fidelity  of  costume  and  accessories;  he 
wears  the  alb,  the  tunicle  embroidered  with 
palms,  the  fringed  stole,  the  round  chasuble,  etc., 
and  is  further  identified  by  his  mitre,  his  cross, 
and  the  dragon  under  his  feet.  The  story  of 
the  serpent  which  took  up  his  abode  in  the  sepul- 
chre of  a  wicked  woman,  and  which  was  exorcised 
by  Saint-Marcel,  makes  one  of  the  narratives  of 
the  Golden  Legend.  The  sculptor  touches  liglitly 
the  tragedy,  and  aided  by  knowledge  of  the  sub- 
ject one  makes  out  the  body  of  the  woman  hi  her 
coffin,  placed  on  end  to  fit  the  composition,  and 
the  monster  with  two  claws  and  a  serpent's  tail 
comes  out  of  the  toml)  to  be  crushed  by  the  saint. 
The  tympanum  is  in  three  zones,  of  which  the 
lower  belongs  to  tlie  Xlllth  century  and  deals 
not  too  clearly  with  the  history  of  Sainte-Anne 
and  the  Virgin,  while  the  Roman  sculpture  of 
the  upper  panels  is  perfectly  clear.  The  mar- 
riage of  the  Virgin  is  the  subject  of  the  lower 
relief.  That  of  the  second  takes  in  the  whole 
story  of  the  Annunciation,  the  presentation  of 
Joseph,  the  Virgin  and  her  cousin  Elisabeth,  the 
manger  and  the  adoration  of  the  shepherds, 
Herod,  the  magi,  etc.  Except  for  the  figure  of 
the   Virgin   mounting    the    steps    of   the   temple. 


148  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

which  is  Xlllth  century,  all  of  this  panel  dates 
from  the  Xllth  century.  The  break  is  the  more 
noticeable  because  of  the  difference  in  the  stone 
used.  The  older  stone  is  hard  and  gray,  while 
the  other  being  softer  has  taken  a  darker  note. 

At  the  summit  of  the  tympanum  the  Virgin 
sits  in  the  middle  holding  her  Son,  enthroned 
between  angels.  The  king  kneeling  at  her  left 
offering  a  scroll  has  been  identified  as  Louis  VII, 
the  friend  of  the  abbe  Suger,  hero  of  the  second 
crusade,  and  father  of  Philippe  Auguste.  To 
the  Virgin's  right  stands  a  bishop  holding,  like 
the  king,  an  open  scroll.  The  king  kneels  as  a 
simple  layman,  the  bishop  stands  in  his  Quality 
of  pontiff.  This  prelate  students  of  the  subject 
identify  as  Maurice  de  Sully,  the  founder  of  the 
cathedral.  Near  the  bishop  a  seated  person  writes 
with  great  attention  upon  a  tablet  the  act  of 
consecration  of  the  church  to  the  Virgin.  Thus 
read,  this  tympanum  becomes  one  of  the  most 
important  and  interesting  historical  documents  in 
connection  with  Notre-Dame. 

The  sculpture  throughout  is  of  a  delightful 
([uaintness  and  consistency.  The  soflRt,  in  four 
rows,  carries  out  the  accompaniment  of  the  story, 
as  in  the  other  doors. 

Most  of  the  greater  cathedrals  credit  the  devil 


NOTRE-DAME  147 

with  a  hand  in  their  construction.  In  this  one  we 
have  him  in  the  character  of  bhicksmith,  for  ac- 
cording to  tradition  the  ironwork  of  these  two 
lateral  doors  is  the  devil's  handiwork.  Guilhermy 
tells  us  that  this  devil  forger  was  known  to  the 
quarter  as  Biscoruette,  and  that  savants  have  made 
of  him  an  artist  whose  soubriquet  has  taken  gravely 
its  place  upon  a  list  of  masters  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
The  ironwork  of  the  end  doors  is  of  the  very  finest 
of  the  Xllth  and  Xlllth  centuries.  The  middle 
door  having  been  tampered  with  by  SoufRot  is  not 
of  the  same  importance  or  beauty. 

The  side  elevations,  greatly  damaged  during  the 
Revolution  and  later,  show  much  restoration.  The 
Porte  du  Cloitre,  in  the  north  transept,  opened 
upon  the  enclosure  reserved  to  the  canonical 
houses.  All  the  sculpture  is  to  the  glory  of 
Mary  and  is  of  fine  workmanship.  The  south  side 
resembles  the  nortli,  and  bears  the  famous  inscrip- 
tion, making  one  line  across  the  portal,  of  which 

c  o 

we  have  already  spoken:  Anno  .  Dni  .  ]M  .  CC  . 
LVII  .  Mense  .  Februario  .  Idus  .  Secundo  . 
Hoc  .  Fuit  .  Tnceptum  .  Christi  .  Genitcis  . 
Honore  .  Kallensi  .  Lathomo  .  Vivente  .  Johanne  . 
Magistro. 

The     Porte     Saint-Etienne,     reserved     to     the 
bishops,   opened  upon   one   of   the   courts   of  the 


148  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

episcopal  palace.  It  is  also  called  the  Porte  des 
Martyrs  on  account  of  the  personages  repre- 
sented. The  reliefs  of  the  tympanum  refer  to  the 
martyrdom  of  Saint-Etienne. 

The  small  door,  opening  from  the  third  chapel 
of  the  choir  is  known  as  the  Porte  Rouge, 
from  the  ancient  colour  of  its  valves,  and  is  sup- 
posed to  date  from  about  1257.  Archaeologists 
have  identified  the  figures  of  the  Virgin  and  her 
son  in  the  tympanum  as  portraits  of  Saint-Louis 
and  Marguerite  de  Provence,  possibly  the  only 
effigies  of  these  personages  sculptured  in  the 
Xlllth  century  which  escaped  the  fury  of  the 
Revolutionists. 


CHAPTER  VII 
INSIDE  THE  CATHEDRAL 

In  its  interior  the  cathedral  is  very  imposing. 
We  are  to  picture  it,  however,  as  much  more  so 
in  the  old  days  when  the  magnificent  glass  of  the 
original  construction  glowed  in  the  nave  and 
choir,  throwing  all  the  vaulting  of  these  parts  into 
mysterious  obscurity,  adding  a  wealth  of  colour 
and  of  strong  geometric  pattern  to  the  openings 
illuminated  as  by  sacred  fire.  The  three  rose 
windows  are  all  that  remain  to  speak  for  the  price- 
less treasures  of  former  times. 

Until  1741  the  glass  was  intact,  and  one  ex- 
pects of  course  to  hear  that  the  vandals  of  the 
Revolution  are  to  blame  for  its  suppression, 
which  has  so  completely  altered  the  aspect  of  the 
church.  iSTot  so.  The  destruction  of  the  ancient 
glass  was  with  the  concurrence  of  the  chapter, 
another  of  those  acts  of  despoliation  undertaken 
by  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  with  the  idea  of 
rejuvenating  the  monument,  of  making  it  more 
accessible  to  practical  devotion;  the  same  spirit 
which  during  the  first  half  of  the  XVIIIth  cen- 

149 


150  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

tury  lost  us  one  after  another  the  ancient  features 
of  the  choir,  its  Gothic  stalls,  its  rood-loft,  the 
screen  of  the  round-point,  the  antique  high  altar, 
its  tombs,  the  funeral  stones  of  the  nave,  choir, 
and  chapels,  and  which  culminated  in  the  desecra- 
tion of  the  Porte  du  Jugement,  as  we  have  seen. 

Pierre  Levied  was  the  maker  of  the  modern 
windows,  and,  says  Guilhermy,  the  "  destructeur 
patente  de  vitraiix  anciens."  And  it  is  to  his 
account  of  the  miserable  business  that  we  owe 
some  of  the  precious  information  concerning  the 
early  glass.  He  recounts  that  he  was  commis- 
sioned to  remove  the  glass  of  the  nave  and  choir 
of  Notre-Dame  and  to  replace  it  with  white  glass 
decorated  with  ciphers  and  symbols  and  flowered 
borders.  This  phlegmatic  Philistine  relates  with 
calmness  that  he  thought  that  most  of  the  win- 
dows which  he  took  out  dated  not  later  than  1182, 
and  that  some  of  it  resembled  the  glass  of  the 
chapels  of  the  apse  of  Saint -Denis,  and  was  un- 
doubtedly that  given  by  the  abbe  Suger. 

But  after  all  Notre-Dame  preserves  from  the 
general  disaster,  by  rare  good  fortune,  the  most 
splendid  part  of  the  glass — the  three  roses  of  the 
three  great  portails,  intact  still  and  unsurpassed. 

Each  rose  completes  the  story  of  its  port  ail. 
To  the  west,  the  full  effect  broken  by  the  intru- 


INSIDE  THE  CATHEDRAL        151 

sion  of  the  organ  pipes,  the  story  concerns  the 
patron  of  the  temple.  The  Virgin  occupies  the 
central  compartment,  and  in  the  widening  circles 
about  her  are  the  twelve  prophets,  the  signs  of 
the  zodiac,  etc.,  the  whole  full  of  symbolism  and 
history,  worthy  of  exhaustive  study.  Above  the 
Porte  du  Cloitre,  the  window  is  consecrated  to 
the  life  and  miracles  of  Mary.  The  south  rose, 
corresponding  to  the  Porte  des  Martyrs,  presents 
in  four  circles  the  choir  of  the  apostles,  an  army 
of  bishops,  saints,  and  angels.  The  three  roses 
are  considered  contemporaneous  with  the  fa9ades 
which  they  complete  and  decorate.  Everything 
proves  it — their  unity  of  style,  the  similarity  of 
execution,  the  intimate  relation  in  choice  and 
composition  of  subject.  Considered  purely  and 
simply  as  geometric  designs,  of  concentric  circles, 
in  jewel-like  colours,  they  fill  the  observer  with 
profound  emotion,  with  rich  satisfaction  and  joy. 
The  whole  church,  now  so  bare  of  historic 
memorials,  was  formerly  paved  with  sepulchral 
stones,  similar  to  the  few  contemporary  relics 
to  be  seen  at  the  Cluny  Museum,  and  history 
was  written  large  on  the  floor  of  nave,  chapels, 
and  choir,  where  one  could  read  inscriptions  and 
study  effigies  of  the  most  illustrious  personages  of 
church  and  state.     "  It  was  a  moving  and  solemn 


152  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

spectacle,"  says  a  contemporary  writer,  "  to  see 
all  these  dead  planted  till  the  day  of  judgment." 
The  architects  of  Louis  XIV  were  first  to  dis- 
turb the  sepulchres  of  the  choir,  to  substitute  for 
tombs  of  bishops  and  grandees  of  the  earth  a 
mosaic  whose  rich  texture  was  without  significa- 
tion, and  merely  a  distraction  for  the  eye.  From 
1771  to  1775  all  the  ground  of  the  nave,  aisles, 
transept,  and  collateral  chapels  of  the  chevet  was 
repaved  with  great  slabs  of  blue  and  white  marble, 
an  operation  which  cost  more  than  three  hundred 
thousand  livres  besides  destroying  innumerable 
stones  engraved  with  effigies  in  intaglio — a  floor- 
ing, in  fact,  perhaps  comparable  to  tlie  glorious 
paving  of  the  cathedral  of  Siena  to-day. 

Guides  are  never  lacking  to  thrust  upon  one 
information  regarding  the  superficial  treasures  of 
the  sacristy  and  the  chapels.  The  latter  are  seen 
with  difficulty  and  are  not  particularly  interesting. 
Some,  however,  are  by  famous  sculptors.  Against 
the  pillar  to  the  left  of  the  choir  is  a  statue  of 
Saint-Denis  by  Nicolas  Coustou,  one  of  the  great 
sculptors  under  Louis  XIV.  It  is  simple,  im- 
pressive, and  beautifully  modelled.  Against  the 
opposite  pillar  is  a  Gothic  statue  of  the  Virgin, 
of  the  XlVth  century,  held  in  high  veneration 
by   the   faithful.      In   the    Chapelle   Sainte-Made- 


INSIDE  THE  CATHEDRAL        153 

leine  is  a  kneeling  statue  of  Archbishop  Sibour, 
who  was  murdered  by  an  abbe  in  the  church 
Saint-Etienne  du  Mont,  by  Dubois,  the  sculptor 
of  a  more  famous  Jeanne  d'Arc,  at  Rheims.  In 
the  Chapelle  Saint-Guillaume  is  a  theatrical 
monument  to  General  d'Harcourt,  by  Pigalle,  an 
important  sculptor  of  the  XVIIIth  century — 
but  the  composition  is  scattered  and  the  group 
lacks  unity. 

Great  destruction  was  done  to  monuments  to 
bishops  and  nobles  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution, 
and  of  all  those  of  bishops,  once  so  numerous  at 
Notre-Dame,  tliere  remains  but  one  effigy  in  mar- 
ble, that  of  Simon  Matiffas  de  Buci,  who  died  in 
1304.  This  is  a  recumbent  figure  in  full  costume, 
with  a  jewelled  mitre,  collar,  necklace,  etc.,  and  • 
a  lion  sleeping  at  the  feet,  in  characteristic 
Gothic  style,  mounted  upon  a  suitable  pedestal. 
It  lies  at  present  directly  behind  the  Pieta,  in 
the  ambulatory. 

The  treasure  of  Notre-Dame  was  greatly  cele- 
brated for  its  magnificence.  Bishops,  kings,  and 
illustrious  personages  of  state  loaded  it  with 
precious  objects.  The  Revolutionists  fell  upon 
it  with  fantastic  fury  and  greed  and  its  contents 
were  swept  to  the  four  winds.  When  the  cult 
was   reestablished   the  government   restored   some 


154  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

objects  which  had  been  preserved  as  rarities.  The 
troubles  of  1831  menaced  again  the  little  that 
had  escaped  the  former  havoc,  but  little  by  little 
it  has  grown  again  in  importance.  Its  chief 
treasure  is  of  course  the  crown  of  thorns  brought 
here  from  the  Sainte-Chapelle. 

The  choir  and  ambulatory  have  kept  some  of 
the  sumptuous  decoration  given  it  by  Louis  XIV 
in  execution  of  the  wish  of  his  father,  Louis 
XIII,  who,  in  1638,  having  put  his  kingdom 
under  the  protection  of  the  Virgin,  pledged  him- 
self to  reconstruct  the  high  altar  of  the  cathedral 
with  an  image  of  the  Virgin  holding  in  her  arms 
her  Son,  descended  from  the  cross,  and  at  her 
feet  a  statue  of  himself  offering  his  crown  and 
sceptre. 

Louis  XIII  died  before  carrying  his  vow  into 
effect,  and  Louis  XIV  undertook  to  accomplish 
it  for  him  some  fifty  years  later.  Begun  in  1699, 
interrupted  by  the  preoccupations  of  war,  and 
rebegun  in  1708,  the  transformation  of  the  choir 
was  not  completed  until  one  year  before  the 
death  of  the  monarch.  Royal  ambition  and 
human  egoism  were  manifestly  served  under  the 
guise  of  filial  devotion  and  piety.  The  beautiful 
jiihc,  or  rood-loft,  was  taken  out  ostensibly  to 
open  the  sanctuary  to  a  more   intimate   relation 


INSIDE  THE  CATHEDRAL        155 

with  the  faithful,  but  at  the  same  time  the  mani- 
fest advantage  was  a  better  view  of  the  royal 
gifts  and  portraits.  The  same  reasoning  seems 
to  apply  to  the  destruction  of  the  round-point  of 
the  choir-screen,  which  was  enclosed  l)y  hand- 
some grills. 

To  the  scheme  of  sculpture  proposed  by  his 
father,  Louis  XIV  added  naturally  a  portrait 
statue  of  himself,  so  that  the  Virgin,  holding  the 
dead  Christ,  was  flanked  by  figures  of  Louis 
XIII  kneeling  on  her  left,  offering  his  crown 
and  sceptre,  and  of  Louis  XIV  on  her  right  in 
identical  pose  without  the  crown  and  sceptre. 
For  this  work  the  king  employed  the  three  most 
celebrated  sculptors  of  his  reign,  Coyzevox  and 
his  pupils,  Nicolas  and  Guillaume  Coustou.  The 
group  of  the  Virgin  is  by  Coustou  ahic,  the 
statue  of  Louis  XIII  by  his  brother  Guillaume, 
and  for  the  statue  of  himself  Louis  le  Grand 
reserved  the  master  Coyzevox. 

The  sculptural  decoration  was  continued  by  the 
addition  of  eight  bronze  angels,  two  upon  the 
angles  of  the  altar  and  three  each  side  of  the 
Pieta  against  the  pillars  of  the  apse,  modelled  by 
Cayot,  Vancleve,  Poirier,  Hurtrelle,  Nagnier, 
and  Anselme  Flamen.  The  antique  high  altar, 
with  its  shrines  and  brass  columns,  was  torn  down 


156  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

to  give  place  to  a  more  magnificent  design,  with 
reliefs  made  by  Vasse.  Twelve  Virtues  in  relief 
above  the  modernized  arcades  of  the  round-point 
were  made  by  Pouletier,  Fremin,  Le  Pautre, 
Lemoine,  Bertrand,  and  Thierry.  Du  Goulon 
was  charged  with  the  sculpture  of  the  two 
bishops'  pulpits,  of  beautiful  woodwork  and  en- 
riched by  ornaments  and  bas-reliefs,  and  of  the 
choir-stalls,  which  replaced  the  ancient  Gothic 
seats  of  the  canons,  their  backs  covered  with  re- 
liefs from  the  life  of  the  Virgin  and  the  New 
Testament.  Above  the  episcopal  pulpits  and  the 
stalls  were  placed  eight  large  paintings  in 
gorgeous  frames,  painted  for  the  choir  by  Halle, 
Jouvenet,  Fosse,  Boulogne  le  Jeune,  and  An- 
toine  Coypel.  The  subjects  were:  The  Annun- 
ciation of  the  Virgin,  the  Visitation,  the  Nativity, 
the  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  the  Presentation  of 
Christ  in  the  Temple,  and  the  Assumption. 

Old  writers  describe  the  altar  as  of  great  mag- 
nificence. It  was  made  of  Egyptian  marble,  cut 
in  the  form  of  an  antique  sarcophagus,  decorated 
on  all  sides  by  cherubim  and  other  rich  orna- 
ments in  gilded  bronze.  Between  the  two  figures 
of  adoring  angels,  upon  the  angles,  was  a  raised 
portion  in  white  marble,  carved  with  an  oval 
relief  by  Vasse,  and  upon  this  elevation  stood  the 


Photo  Alinari 


GOTHIC  STATUE  OF  THE  VIRGIN. 
INTERIOR   NOTRE-DAME. 


XIVTH  CENTURY. 


XinTH   CENTURY   SCULPTURE 
FROM    THE    CHOIR-SCREEN. 
NOTRE-DAME. 
SLAUGHTER   OF  THE 
INNOCENTS    AND   FLIGHT 
INTO   EGYPT. 


I'liuto  Alinari 


I'hulu   Aliiiuii 


THE  AMBUI-ATORY.      NOTRE-DAME. 


INSIDE  THE  CATHEDRAL        159 

great  crucifix  and  six  large  silver  candlesticks  of 
superior  workmanship.  Three  circular  steps  of 
Languedoc  marble  preceded  the  altar,  and  the 
sanctuary  itself  was  approached  by  four  steps  in 
similar  material,  bordered  by  a  superb  balus- 
trade in  marble  and  gilded  bronze,  magnificently 
chiselled. 

The  high  altar,  with  all  its  accessories,  was 
destroyed  for  the  second  time,  in  1793,  when  the 
cathedral  became  a  Temple  of  Reason,  and  Made- 
moiselle Maiilard,  attended  by  her  priestesses, 
supernumeraries  of  the  opera,  was  adored  as  the 
Goddess  of  Reason,  a  la  place  du  ci-devant  sacre- 
ment! 

The  altar  which  one  sees  to-day  was  built  in 
1803.  Its  Christ  before  the  tomb,  in  gilded 
bronze,  founded  upon  the  design  of  Vancleve, 
comes  from  the  Chapelle  des  Louvois  in  the  old 
church  of  the  Capucines  of  the  Place  Vendome. 
The  cross  and  six  chandeliers  belonged,  before 
the  Revolution,  to  the  cathedral  of  Arras. 
The  beautifully  chiselled  bronze  lectern  dates 
from  1755  and  is  signed  Duplessis,  founder  to  the 
king. 

For  many  years  the  statues  of  Louis  XITI 
and  Louis  XIV,  rescued  at  the  time  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, were  housed  in  the  modern  sculpture  rooms  of 


160  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

the  Louvre,,  but  they  have  been  put  back  in  the 
sanctuary  in  an  effort  to  restore  as  far  as  possible 
the  beauty  of  the  choir.  Amongst  the  many  his- 
toric monuments  which  perished  during  the 
Reign  of  Terror  was  the  equestrian  statue  of 
Philippe  le  Bel.  A  writer  in  1736  relates  that 
the  chapel  to  the  Virgin  having  just  been  recon- 
structed "  with  much  magnificence  and  at  the 
expense  of  the  cardinal  de  Noailles,  archbishop 
of  Paris,"  one  saw  opposite  this  chapel  the  eques- 
trian statue  of  Philippe  le  Bel.  "  It  was  thus 
mounted,"  continues  our  scribe,  "  that  this  king 
came  to  render  thanks  to  God  and  to  the  Virgin, 
for  the  victory  which  he  had  gained  over  the 
Flemish  at  Mons-en-Pevle,  18  August,  1304." 
A  colossal  statue  of  Saint  Christopher,  standing 
against  a  pillar  near  the  western  entrance,  dated 
from  1413,  and  was  the  gift  of  Antoine  des  Es- 
sars,  chamberlain  of  Charles  VI.  It  was  de- 
stroyed by  the  chapter  in  1786.  One  finds  con- 
stant allusions  to  this  statue  which,  recalling  the 
patron  of  the  Hotel-Dieu,  had  many  admirers. 
Coryat,'  writing  in  1611,  says:  "I  could  see  no 
notable  matter  in  the  cathedrall  church,  saving 
the  statue  of  Saint  Christopher,  on  the  right  hand 
at   the    coming   in    of   the    great    gate,    which    is 

^  Crudities. 


INSIDE  THE  CATHEDRAL        161 

indeed  very  exquisitely  done,  all  the  rest  being 
but  ordinary." 

The  zeal  of  Louis  XIV  in  the  embellishment 
of  the  sanctuary  did  not  stop  with  the  destruction 
of  the  ancient  interior  of  the  choir,  but,  as  we 
have  seen,  tore  away  its  picturesque  rood-loft  to 
open  a  view  from  the  nave,  and  extended  even  to 
the  partial  demolition  of  the  choir-screen,  of 
which  there  remains  but  a  remnant.  The  work 
is  exceedingly  curious,  consisting  of  a  frieze  of 
stone  figures,  painted  and  gilded,  and  in  its  en- 
tirety told  the  comjilete  story  of  Christ,  before 
and  after  the  Resurrection.  The  series  was  so 
arranged  that  the  cycle,  which  began  at  the  east 
— or  at  the  centre  of  the  round-point  of  the 
apse — passed  along  the  north  side  of  the  choir  to 
its  western  extremity,  was  continued  on  the  lec- 
tern, where  the  Passion,  Crucifixion,  and  Resur- 
rection were  pictured  in  front  of  the  congrega- 
tion, and  concluded  in  a  series  of  panels  moving 
from  west  to  east  back  to  the  point  of  departure. 

The  handsome  grills  introduced  by  Louis' 
architect  were  erected  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  be- 
ginning and  end  of  the  series,  presumably  the 
Annunciation  and  the  Ascension.  The  earlier 
work,  on  the  north  side  of  the  choir,  unfortu- 
nately   at    the    darkest    part    of   the   ambulatory, 


162  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

begins  with  the  Visitation  and  carries  the  story 
in  an  unbroken  chain  to  the  Agony  in  the  Gar- 
den. The  latter  series  on  the  south  side  takes  up 
the  narrative  after  the  Resurrection  and  carries  it 
from  the  meeting  of  Christ  and  Mary  Magdalen 
to  the  farewell  to  the  Disciples,  before  the 
Ascension. 

The  work  evidently  was  a  long  time  under 
way,  and  by  artists  of  very  different  calibre.  The 
earliest  fragment  is  vividly  conceived  and  exe- 
cuted with  great  force  and  virility,  as  well  as 
surprising  realism.  One  has  no  need  whatever 
of  the  ministrations  of  the  officious  guide  with  his 
fatuous  explanations,  for  nothing  could  be  clearer 
than  this  imagery  of  the  story  of  Christ.  It  has 
besides  all  the  touching  simplicity  of  the  Gospel 
itself,  and  breathes  the  spirit  of  the  Xlllth  cen- 
tury.   The  exact  date  of  execution  is  not  known. 

The  artist  of  the  later  scenes,  however,  left  his 
name  in  an  inscription,  which  has  disappeared,  as 
Jehan  Ravy,  who  for  twenty-six  years  conducted 
the  building  of  Notre-Dame,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  the  series  was  completed  under  his  nephew, 
Jehan  le  Bouteiller,  in  1351.  There  is  a  distinct 
falling  off  in  the  technique  and  inspiration  of 
these  later  reliefs.  The  sculptor,  departing  from 
the  continuous  scheme  of  his  distinguished  prede- 


INSIDE  THE  CATHEDRAL        163 

cesser,  has  divided  his  subjects  into  panels,  sep- 
arated by  columns,  and  made  a  more  elaborate 
finish  to  the  frieze,  in  keeping  with  his  thinner 
style.  Everything  is  to  the  advantage  of  the 
early,  unknown  sculptor. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  BASILICA  OF  CLOVIS: 
SAINTE-GENEVIEVE 

When  Paris  was  confined  to  the  ile  de  la  Cite 
it  had  for  defence  a  thick  wall  and  for  moat  the 
hed  of  the  Seine.  The  Petit  Pont,  replacing  an 
ancient  Roman  bridge,  was  the  earliest  means  of 
exit  from  the  Cite  to  the  left  bank  of  the  river  and 
led  the  way  to  the  Route  d'Orleans,  itself  a  Roman 
road  dating  back  to  the  time  of  Caesar.  This 
bridge  must  have  been  in  constant  use  by  the  Ro- 
man emperors  and  governors  in  coming  and  going 
between  the  primitive  city  of  Lutece  and  the 
Palais  des  Thermes,  without  the  walls. 

Regarding  this  first  wall  of  Paris,  history  is 
obscure,  but  we  know  that  the  Grand  and  the 
Petit  Chatelets  were  the  development  of  the  ancient 
gates  of  Lutece.  The  Grand  Chatelet,  or  Porte 
de  Paris,  of  which  there  now  remains  merely  the 
site  and  the  name  bestowed  upon  a  place  and  a 
theatre,  was  reputed  to  have  been  an  old  chriteau 
built  in  the  time  of  the  Romans,  of  which  in  the 
XVIIIth  century  there  still  remained  several  old 

164 


SAIXTE-GENEVIEVE  165 

towers  incorporated  in  a  modern  construction 
(1684)  enclosing  several  prisons  and  a  famous 
torture  chamber.  A  vaulted  j^assage  under  the 
fortress  served  as  egress  from  the  island  to  the 
right  bank  of  the  river.  The  Petit  Chritelet 
guarded  the  approach  to  the  Cite  on  the  site  now 
called  Place  du  Petit  Pont.  It  was  an  antique 
fortress  composed  of  a  massive  quadrangular 
castle  with  round  towers  on  the  side  towards  the 
Seine,  under  Mhich  passed  a  vaulted  passage, 
closed  by  a  heavy  gate  which  served  as  the  second 
Porte  de  Paris. 

Both  Grand  and  Petit  Chatelets  served  as 
official  residences  for  the  provost  and  vicomte  of 
Paris,  as  seats  of  justice,  and  as  prisons,  the  lat- 
ter, says  cheerfully  an  old  writer,  ordinairement 
hien  gariiie.  The  passage  under  the  Petit  Chiitelet, 
though  dark  and  narrow,  according  to  the  early 
descriptions,  was  the  most  frequented  entrance  to 
the  Ciic.  Destroyed  bv  the  Normans,  it  was  re- 
built  in  1369  under  Charles  V  in  the  form  familiar 
through  engravings.  By  an  old  custom  the  clergj'' 
of  Notre-Dame  walked  here  in  procession  annually 
on  Palm  Sunday  and  liberated  one  prisoner. 
After  the  capture  of  Paris  by  the  Burgundians, 
in  1418,  there  was  a  general  massacre  of  the  pris- 
oners, which  included  at  the  time  the  bishops  of 


166  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Bayeux,  Evreux,  Constances,  and  Senlis.  The 
picturesque  old  buildings  of  the  Petit  Chatelet 
were  pulled  down  in  1782. 

Without  the  walls,  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Seine,  extended  a  vast  prairie,  on  the  outskirts 
of  which  stood  the  ancient  palace  of  the  Csesars, 
adopted  as  a  royal  residence  by  the  kings  of  the 
first  race  in  France.  This  palace  in  the  course 
of  time,  instead  of  commanding  a  Roman  camp, 
became  a  sort  of  centre  between  the  two  first 
faubourgs  of  Paris,  built  both  on  the  rive  gauche, 
the  one,  Saint-Pierre  (later  Sainte-Genevieve), 
upon  the  rise  of  land  where  now  stands  the 
Pantheon,  and  the  other.  Saint- Vincent  et  Sainte- 
Croix,  nearer  the  river  (later  Saint-Germain-des- 
Pres). 

The  great  Clovis  built  the  basilica  of  Saint- 
Pierre,  or  of  the  Saints-Apotres,  as  Gregoire  de 
Tours  usually  names  it,  as  a  monument  to  his 
victory  over  the  army  of  the  Visigoths;  Childebert, 
son  of  Clovis,  second  king  of  Paris,  gave  the  other 
and  grander  church  to  enshrine  the  trophies  of 
his  victories  in  Spain. 

The  steep  and  winding  Rue  de  la  Montagne- 
Sainte-Genevieve  leads  through  one  of  the  most 
characteristic  bits  of  old  Paris,  from  the  Boulevard 
Saint-Germain  at  the  Place  Maubert,  to  the  site 


Photo  Alinari 


STATUE    OF    SAINTE-GENEVIEVE.       XIII TH    CENTURY. 
FROM   THE   ANCIENT   EGLISE   SAINTE-GENEVIEVE. 
NOW   IN    THE   LOUVRE. 


SAINTE-GENEVIEVE  169 

of  the  church  of  Clovis.  One  may  approach  it 
directly  from  the  cathedral  by  crossing  the  Pont 
au  Double,  taking  the  Rue  Lagrange  to  Place 
Maubert,  and  thence,  across  the  boulevard,  by 
ascending  the  narrow  Rue  de  la  Montagne-Sainte- 
Genevieve. 

The  quarter,  despite  the  heavy  domination  of 
the  Pantheon,  the  modern  temple  to  the  saint, 
built  by  Louis  XV,  and  the  alien  library  which 
preserves  the  books  of  the  old  abbey,  keeps  much 
of  its  primitive  tone.  We  shall  come  back  to  it, 
in  a  later  chapter,  for  Saint-Etienne-du-Mont, 
its  chief  existing  interest;  but  for  the  present 
there  is  still  standing  the  tower  of  the  old  Sainte- 
Genevieve,  with  its  Romanesque  base,  enclosed 
within  the  precincts  of  the  Lycee  Henri  IV,  which 
occupies  part  of  the  buildings  of  the  ancient  abbey, 
while  the  quiet  Rues  Clotilde  and  Clovis  guard  the 
memory  of  the  founders. 

After  the  death  of  Clovis,  his  queen,  Clotilde, 
finished  the  church,  and  in  the  sanctuary  interred 
the  bodies  of  Sainte-Genevieve  and  her  consort,  and, 
later,  her  two  grandchildren,  the  sons  of  Clodomir, 
who  were  murdered  by  their  uncles,  Childebert 
and  Clotaire,  whose  power  and  dominion  they,  as 
their  father's  heirs,  menaced  and  diminished. 
Clotilde  survived  this  tragedy  twenty  years,  years 


170  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

devoted  to  strictest  piety,  to  numerous  charities; 
she  distributed  her  domains  to  churches,  to  monas- 
teries, in  a  constant  effort  to  efface  by  the  practice 
of  rehgion  the  memory  of  this  horrible  catastrophe. 

The  details  of  this  murder  merit  perhaps  a 
passing  word  as  throwing  light  upon  the  extraor- 
dinary cruelty  of  this  primitive  race  of  kings. 
Upon  the  death  of  Clodomir,  the  eldest  son  of 
Clovis  and  Clotilde,  whose  heritage  was  the  king- 
dom of  Orleans,  his  widow,  Gondiuque,  married 
her  brother-in-law,  Clotaire,  and  his  three  male 
infants  were  confided  to  their  grandmother.  Clo- 
tilde showed  for  the  young  heirs  such  tenderness 
that  her  remaining  sons,  Childebert  and  Clotaire, 
were  alarmed.  The  estates  of  Clodomir  had  not 
yet  been  divided  amongst  his  children,  and  Childe- 
bert proposed  to  his  brother  the  murder  of  their 
three  nephews.  Clotaire  was  readily  persuaded 
and  under  the  pretext  to  establish  them  as  rulers 
of  their  father's  domain,  the  brothers  sent  for 
them.  Clotilde,  filled  with  joy  at  the  prospects 
of  her  grandsons,  sent  them  forth,  accompanied 
by  a  numerous  suite. 

Immediately  upon  their  arrival  the  young 
princes  were  taken  prisoners  and  the  suite  dis- 
persed, whereupon  the  senator  of  Auvergne, 
Arcadius,  was  sent  to  Clotilde  with  orders  to  pre- 


SAINTE-GENEVIEVE  171 

sent  himself  before  her  with  a  drawn  sword  in  one 
hand  and  a  pair  of  scissors  in  the  other.  Now 
the  Merovingiens  wore  their  hair  long  as  a  sign 
of  royalty,  and  Clotilde  recognized  at  once  the 
choice  which  was  presented  to  her.  In  her  im- 
petuous indignation  she  returned  the  messenger 
with  the  brusque  word  that  she  would  ratlier 
have  the  children  killed  than  shaven  and  deprived 
of  their  estates. 

Arcadius  hastened  to  report  this  decision  of 
Clotilde,  whereupon  Clotaire  seizing  the  oldest  of 
the  princes  threw  him  upon  the  ground  and  killed 
him  with  one  stroke  of  his  sword.  The  youngest 
fell  upon  his  knees  before  Childebert  imploring  his 
protection,  upon  which  this  extraordinary  king, 
says  the  old  narrative,  was  touched  to  tears,  but 
Clotaire,  who  was  of  sterner  stuff,  cried:  How  now! 
it  was  you  who  decided  me  to  commit  this  crime, 
and  you  weaken!  Perish  yourself  or  deliver  to 
me  this  child.  (''  C'est  toi  qui  rnas  decide  a  com- 
mettre  ce  crime,  et  tu  recules!  Peris  toi-inem.e  ou 
abandon tie-moi  cet  enfant/")  Childebert  gave  way 
and  another  victim  was  killed. 

The  third  prince,  Clodoald,  was  saved  by  the 
guard,  and  later  he  himself  cut  off  his  long  hair 
and  took  sacred  orders.  After  his  death  he  was 
sanctified,  and  his  name,  somewhat  modified,  was 


172  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

given  in  his  memory  to  the  village  Nogent-sur- 
Seine,  thereafter  known  as  Saint- Cloud. 

Out  of  such  triste  and  inglorious  beginnings, 
wars,  massacres,  murders,  parricide,  grew  then 
the  great  and  powerful  abbey  of  Sainte-Genevieve 
in  the  suite  of  the  church  founded  by  Clovis  and 
endowed  by  his  queen.  Upon  her  death  Clotilde 
was  interred  near  the  sepulchre  of  the  saint  and 
after  a  thousand  years  (in  1539)  her  remains  were 
enclosed  in  a  silver  shrine.  Like  Jeanne  dArc, 
Sainte-Genevieve,  the  shepherdess  of  Nanterre, 
touches  strongly  French  sentiment  and  patriotism; 
together  with  Saint-Denis,  the  apostle  of  Paris, 
she  figures  on  most  of  the  Gothic  remnants  which 
have  come  down  to  us,  having  for  Paris  her  special 
local  appeal.  Her  shrine  still  attracts  thousands 
of  the  faithful. 

Tradition  pictures  the  youthful  Genevieve  as  a 
peasant  girl  of  the  environs  of  Paris,  born  in  421, 
and  signalled  out  by  Saint-Germain,  the  bishop 
of  Auxerre,  as  predestined  for  special  service  in 
the  cause  of  Christianity.  In  one  of  the  two 
voyages  which  he  made  to  Great  Britain,  Saint- 
Germain  passed  by  Nanterre  and  consecrated  to 
the  Seigneur  the  Virgin  Genevieve,  who  became 
the  patron  saint  of  Paris. 

In  the  strange  old  church  of  Saint-Germain-de- 


SAINTE-GENEVIEVE  173 

Charonne,  buried  behind  the  cemetery  Pere  La- 
chaise,  is  a  large  canvas  of  the  XVI  Ith  cen- 
tury, representing  Saint-Germain  standing  in  his 
pontifical  robes  consecrating  to  God  the  little 
Genevieve,  led  by  her  mother. 

Saint-Germain-d'Auxerre  was  one  of  the  great 
figures  of  the  Christian  church  in  Gaul  in  the  Vth 
century.  The  bishop  of  Auxerre,  he  must  not  be 
confounded  with  Saint-Germain,  the  bishop  of 
Paris,  who  lived  in  the  Vlth  century.  The  first 
IS  the  patron  saint  of  the  churches,  Saint-Germain- 
I'Auxerrois  and  Saint-Germain-de-Charonne,  the 
second  is  the  patron  of  Saint-Germain-des-Pres. 
In  the  Middle  Ages  these  two  bishops  with  Saint- 
Denis,  Saint-Martin,  Saint-Remi,  Saint-Pierre, 
Saint-Etienne,  and  Sainte-Genevieve  were  very 
popular,  especially  in  the  Paris  region. 
•  Sainte-Genevieve  had  rendered  great  service  to 
Paris  during  the  troublous  times  of  the  barbarian 
invasions.  When  Attila  threatened  to  lay  siege 
to  the  little  city,  it  was  Genevieve,  warned  of 
God,  who  addressed  the  people  telling  them  not 
to  abandon  their  homes  and  promising  them  the 
protection  of  Heaven.  When  Childeric,  the  father 
of  Clovis,  invested  the  city  it  was  again  Genevieve 
who  to  relieve  the  famine  took  command  of  boats 
sent   up   the   river   to   Troyes   for   help.     By  her 


174  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

prayers  she  stilled  the  tempests  and  brought  back 
her  ships,  laden  with  provisions.  The  history  of 
her  pious  life  is  pictured  in  the  famous  modern 
frescoes  of  the  Pantheon,  while  upon  early  build- 
ings sculptors  delighted  to  represent  her  accom- 
panied by  a  devil  who  tries  vainly  to  blow  out  the 
flame  of  her  lighted  taper,  the  symbol  of  Chris- 
tianity, of  which  she  was  a  devoted  disciple  and 
teacher. 

The  early  church  upon  the  "  mountain,"  behind 
the  palace  of  the  Caesars,  took  the  name  Sainte- 
Genevieve  as  early  as  the  Vllth  century,  on  ac- 
count of  the  miracles  performed  at  the  tomb  of 
the  saint.  Ruined  in  the  IXth  century  by  the 
Normans,  it  was  completely  rebuilt  at  about  the 
end  of  the  Xllth  century,  upon  the  old  founda- 
tions, while  from  time  to  time  under  different 
kings  it  was  enriched  and  embellished. 

The  reliquary,  in  the  form  of  a  church,  con- 
taining the  remains  of  the  saint,  was  executed  in 
1242  by  order  of  Robert  de  la  Ferte-Milon,  abbot  of 
the  monastery,  by  Bonnard,  one  of  the  cleverest  of 
French  goldsmiths.  One  hundred  and  ninety- 
three  silver  ma?'cs  and  seven  and  one-half  marcs 
of  gold  were  employed  in  its  confection.  Kings 
and  queens  of  France  covered  it  with  precious 
stones,  and  Marie  de  Medicis  gave  a  rich  bouquet 


Photo  A.  Giraudon 


CHIMERAS:    ROMAN   EPOCH. 

FROM   THE   OLD   ABBEY   OF    SAINTE-GENEVIE\'E. 

NOW  IN   THE  LOUVRE. 


MARBLE   CAPITA!.   REPRESENTING 
DANIEL  IX  THE  LIONS'   DEN. 
FROM    THE   ANCIENT   BASILICA 
OF    SAINT-GENEVIEVE. 
NOW   IN   THE   LOUVTBE. 


Photo  A.  Giraudon 


Photo  A.  Qiraudon 


PEDESTAL    AND   GROUP   OF   FOTtR    FTGTTRES    IN    SCULPTURED   WOOD, 
BY   GERMAIN    PILON,    WHICH    FORMERI  Y    HELD   THE   cfiaSSe 
CONTAINING    THE    RELICS    OF    SAINTE-0ENE\7EVE   IN 
THE    CHURCH    DEDICATED    TO    THE    SAINT. 
KOW   IN    THE  LOmTJE. 


SAINTE-GENEVIEVE  177 

of  diamonds  which  surmounted  the  gable  of  the 
principal  face. 

Four  statues  of  women,  larger  than  life  size, 
carved  from  wood  by  Germain  Pilon,  placed  upon 
marble  columns  behind  the  high  altar,  supported 
the  shrine.  The  arms  of  the  figures  have  disap- 
peared, but  the  fragment  stands  otherwise  prac- 
tically intact  and  forms  one  of  the  chief  orna- 
ments of  that  beautiful  Salle  Jean  Goujon,  at  the 
Louvre,  where  so  many  rare  examples  of  French 
Renaissance  sculpture  are  preserved.  The  figures 
stand  back  to  back  in  a  circle,  and  their  arms 
were  evidently  raised  to  hold  the  shrine.  It  is 
amusing  to  see  how  far  one  had  come  from  the 
severity  of  the  epoch  of  the  saint  in  the  opulent 
period  in  which  the  accessories  to  the  shrine  were 
made.  The  four  women  are  beautiful,  mundane 
creatures,  the  true  companions  to  the  Diana  of 
Jean  Goujon,  a  supposed  portrait  of  Diane  de 
Poitiers,  mistress  of  Henri  II,  by  whose  side  they 
now  stand.  They  are  exquisitely  coiffed  and  wear 
transparent,  filmy  draperies,  which  reveal  the  de- 
licious contours  of  their  figures.  The  heads  are 
elegantly  poised,  but  seem  rather  insignificant, 
while  the  masterly  touch  of  the  sculptor  comes  out 
strong  in  the  vigorous  carving  of  the  feet. 

From  remotest  times  the  relics  of  the  saint  had 


178  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

been  considered  the  safeguard  of  the  city,  and  the 
shrine  was  often  carried  in  procession  to  ward  off 
calamities.  In  1793  the  municipahty  of  Paris  had 
the  relics  thrown  into  the  fire,  the  shrine  melted  in 
the  furnace  of  the  mint,  an  excess  of  democratic 
vandalism  which  yielded  only  twenty-one  thousand 
livres  to  the  national  treasury. 

When,  in  1755,  Louis  XV,  in  fulfilment  of  a 
vow,  commenced  the  building  of  the  great  monu- 
ment, now  the  Pantheon,  which  was  to  supersede 
the  antique  church  as  a  memorial  to  the  patron 
of  Paris,  Sainte-Genevieve  was  condemned  and 
allowed  to  fall  into  ruins.  It  was  demolished  in 
1801-7,  when  the  cutting  through  of  the  Rue  Clovis 
blotted  out  its  foundations  and  destroyed  its 
souvenirs. 

The  crypt  was  the  largest  and  most  venerated 
of  all  Paris.  From  its  ruins  was  taken  the  stone 
sarcophagus  which  had  for  so  many  centuries  en- 
closed the  remains  of  the  Saint.  Covered  by 
a  modern  shrine  it  was  installed  in  the  neigh- 
bouring church  of  Saint-Etienne-du-Mont,  where 
it  is  still  the  object  of  many  a  pious  pilgrimage. 
All  day  long  and  at  all  seasons  of  the  year  can- 
dles, placed  by  the  devout  who  hope  to  gain  the 
intercession  of  the  saint,  burn  upon  it. 

Something  of  the  beautiful  workmanship  of  the 


SAINTE-GENEVIEVE  179 

Merovingien  basilica  raised  by  Clovis  to  the 
Saints-Apotres,  may  be  divined  by  the  study  of  a 
remarkable  fragment  preserved  in  a  room  devoted 
to  French  sculpture  of  the  Moyen  Age  (Salle 
IX)  at  the  Louvre.  This  is  the  capital  from  one 
of  the  columns,  in  marble  of  a  fine  grain,  appear- 
ing to  have  been  cut  at  two  different  times.  Ac- 
cording to  the  label,  the  face,  representing  Daniel 
in  the  Lions'  Den  is  Roman  and  the  back,  carved 
in  the  acanthus  leaves  of  classic  antiquity,  is  of 
the  Vlth  century. 

Not  only  is  the  capital  highly  decorative  in  its  em- 
bellishment, but  the  biblical  story  is  told  with  strik- 
ing conviction.  Daniel  is  seated  in  the  centre  be- 
tween the  lions,  in  a  peaceful  and  contemplative 
attitude,  his  cheek  in  the  palm  of  one  hand  and 
the  other  covering  his  knee.  He  has  large,  calm 
eyes  which  look  out  into  illimitable  space,  and  the 
expression  on  his  face  is  truly  delightful.  The 
lions  achieve  to  the  utmost  their  purely  decorative 
quality  and  show  their  good  will  by  smiling 
broadly,  and  their  entire  submission  by  their  tails, 
which  are  not  only  between  their  legs,  but  owing 
to  their  great  length  are  curled  up  again  over 
their  backs,  where  they  terminate  in  ornamental 
tassels.  In  the  whole  of  this  conception  there  is 
something  distinctly  Chinese.    Daniel  is  Buddhistic, 


180  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

especially  in  his  mystic  remoteness  and  sublimity, 
while  the  lions  are  surely  akin  to  the  sacred  Chow. 

Not  far  from  this  fragment  of  the  Merovingien 
basilica  is  an  important  relic  of  the  Xlllth  cen- 
tury restoration/  This  is  the  large  statue  of  the 
saint  herself,  taken  from  the  central  pier  of  the 
entrance.  The  figure  stands  against  the  original 
pillar,  upon  a  pedestal,  and  is  covered  by  a  small 
canopy.  Following  the  tradition,  the  saint  holds, 
or  rather  held,  a  candle  and  a  book;  a  demon 
perches  on  her  left  shoulder,  an  angel  leans  over 
the  right.  One  tries  to  extinguish  and  the  other 
defends  the  flame  which  should  guide  the  virgin 
in  her  nocturnal  pilgrimage  to  the  tombs  of  the 
martyrs.  In  the  general  wreckage  of  her  environ- 
ment Sainte-Genevieve  has  lost  her  nose  and  her 
candle,  and  the  devil  his  head,  so  that  without  the 
key  the  significance  of  the  statue  is  lost.  The 
angel  is  quite  intact  and  leans  protectingly  over 
the  saint's  shoulder.  The  statue  dates  from  the 
beginning  of  the  Xlllth  century. 

Some  fragmentary  capitals  from  the  nave  of  the 
old  church  may  be  discovered  in  the  second  court 
of  the  Beaux-Arts.  These  are  in  stone  and  of 
Xlth  century  construction,  very  large  and  clumsily 
executed.     On  one  of  them  is  the  story  of  Adam 

'  Also  in  Salle  IX. 


SAINTE-GENEVIEVE  181 

and  Eve  in  three  episodes,  making  a  continuous 
pattern  upon  the  exposed  side  of  the  capital.  In 
the  centre,  the  serpent  entwined  about  the  tree 
offering  Eve  the  apple  in  his  teeth,  and  Adam 
and  Eve  in  grotesquely  unequivocal  attitudes;  to 
the  left,  the  creation  of  woman,  crude  but  unmis- 
takable; to  the  right,  the  expulsion  from  Paradise. 
The  figures  are  heavy  and  primitive  while  the 
foliage  is  well  cut  and  well  preserved.  The  motifs 
on  the  other  capitals  are  less  clear  as  to  their 
meaning,  it  has  been  thought  that  they  represent 
the  signs  of  the  zodiac.  All  are  in  a  deplorable 
state  of  decay. 

Upon  the  wall  over  the  first  mentioned  frag- 
ment, is  a  handsome  funeral  stone  of  elaborate 
workmanship,  representing  Jean  Disse,  a  chan- 
cellor of  Notre-Dame  of  Noyon,  who  died  in  1350. 
The  stone  has  been  broken,  but  put  together  care- 
fully, and  though  covered  with  a  patine  from 
exposure  is  still  clearly  legible,  both  as  to  decora- 
tion and  the  inscription  which  runs  around  the 
border. 

These  things,  we  assume,  were  brought  here 
at  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  and  installed  in  the 
hastily  improvised  museum  of  French  art,  organ- 
ized by  that  admirable  patriot  Alexandre  Lenoir, 
to   whose   intervention   and   courage   we   owe   the 


182  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

preservation  of  so  many  monuments  which  would 
otherwise  have  been  destroyed. 

A  statue  of  Clovis,  made  in  the  Xllth  century, 
from  the  abbey  of  Sainte-Genevieve,  forms  one 
of  the  chief  treasures  of  Saint-Denis.  This  statue 
had  been  discarded  in  the  XVI Ith  century,  for  a 
more  imposing  monument  in  white  marble,  erected 
in  the  middle  of  the  choir  of  the  church,  by  order 
of  cardinal  de  la  Rochefoucauld.  The  Revolu- 
tionists spent  their  rage  upon  the  modern  tomb, 
while  the  ancient  stone  effigy,  whose  place  it  had 
usurped,  escaped  their  fury  and  was  rescued  by 
the  indefatigable  Lenoir  for  his  Museum  of 
French  Monuments  installed  in  the  convent  of 
the  Petits-Augustins. 

The  figure  with  all  its  accessories  and  the  bed 
upon  which  it  rests  are  cut  from  a  solid  block  of 
stone.  The  workmanship  is  heavy  and  coarse, 
and  the  statue,  in  contradistinction  to  the  charac- 
teristic style  of  the  epoch,  which  exaggerated  the 
length  and  elongated  the  forms  as  a  rule,  is  short 
and  thick.  The  effigy  is  distinguished  by  the  long 
hair  and  beard  of  the  Merovingien  princes,  and 
tallies  in  all  respects  with  the  old  engravings, 
which  may  be  consulted  in  the  works  of  Dubreul 
and  Montfaucon. 

From  the  vandalism  of  the  Revolutionists  these 


SAINTE-GENEVIEVE  183 

and  some  other  monuments  were  spared,  including 
the  handsome  mausoleum  of  cardinal  de  La  Roche- 
foucauld, cut  in  marble  by  Philippe  Buister. 

The  monument  to  Rene  Descartes,  though  re- 
spectfully carried  to  the  shelter  of  the  Petits- 
Augustins,  was  afterwards  dismembered,  while 
the  ashes  of  the  great  philosopher  are  interred  at 
Saint-Germain-des-Pres. 

Thus  may  one  visit  the  scattered  relics  of  the 
demolished  church,  while  upon  the  site  itself 
stands,  still  marking  the  summit  of  the  mount,  the 
high  and  beautiful  tower,  spared  since  it  did  not 
trouble  the  line  of  the  Rue  Clovis.  Roman  at  its 
base  and  pierced  by  rounded  arches,  it  passes  in 
its  ascent,  to  Gothic,  and  its  two  upper  stories 
belong  to  the  XlVth  and  XVth  centuries.  The 
Roman  construction  is  said  to  date  from  the  reign 
of  Philippe  I  (1060)  or  at  the  latest  from  the 
first  years  of  the  Xllth  century.  A  winding 
stairway  of  stone  mounts  through  a  tourelle  at 
the  northeastern  angle  and  at  each  story  is  a  door- 
way opening  upon  an  elegant  balcony  with  fine 
wrought-iron  grills.  The  balustrade  and  four  little 
steeples  are  in  the  flamboyant  style. 

The  convent  buildings  have  been  absorbed  into 
the  construction  of  the  Lycee  Henri  IV,  which 
after  the  suppression  of  the  abbey  took  posses- 


184  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

sion.  The  principal  existing  remnant  is  the  refec- 
tory, a  great,  vaulted  hall,  constructed  in  the 
Xlllth  century,  and  partially  restored  in  1886. 
This  room  serves  as  chapel  for  the  college. 

The  library  of  Sainte-Genevieve,  once  celebrated 
in  the  world  of  savants,  was  housed  on  the  top 
floor  of  the  abbey,  and  constituted  one  of  those 
remote  fastnesses  of  archaeological,  scientific,  and 
literary  research  which  are  the  delight  of  the  elect. 
The  collections  were  founded  by  the  cardinal  de 
la  Rochefoucauld,  about  1624,  and  greatly  in- 
creased by  the  addition  of  the  library  of  cardinal 
le  Tellier,  archbishop  of  Rheims,  in  1710.  The 
library  is  rich  in  manuscripts  from  the  IXth  to 
the  XVI  Ith  centuries,  many  beautifully  illu- 
minated, and  contains  a  nearly  complete  collection 
of  Aldine  editions  as  well  as  a  famous  collection 
of  about  8000  engravings,  including  nearly  5000 
portraits. 

The  Revolution  declared  the  library  national 
property,  and  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century 
the  long  Florentine  building  on  the  north  side  of 
the  Place  du  Pantheon  was  erected  by  the  archi- 
tect Labrouste  and  became  the  new  Bibliotheque 
Sainte-Genevieve.  The  ancient  sanctuary  of 
science  was  denuded  of  its  treasures  in  1850 
when  the  transfer  of  the  collections  to  the  new 
building  was  made. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  BASILICA  OF  CHILDEBERT: 
SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRES 

The  quaint  old  church  of  Saint-Germain-des- 
Pres,  still  dominant  over  an  interesting  quarter 
of  Paris,  on  the  jive  gauche,  was  the  nucleus  of 
a  large  and  powerful  ahbey,  which  once  peopled 
this  locality  and  had  jurisdiction  over  an  impor- 
tant section  known  as  the  Bourg  Saint-Germain. 
The  existing  church,  a  mere  fragment  of  the 
orie^inal  construction,  was  the  centre  of  the  abbey, 
as  the  abbey  was  the  centre  of  the  bourg,  or  vil- 
lage, the  whole  having  grown  out  of  a  foundation 
made  in  remote  times  by  Childebert,  the  third 
son  and  immediate  successor  of  Clovis,  the  second 
Merovingien  king  of  Paris. 

In  ancient  times  the  church  and  abbey  were 
known  as  Saint-Vincent  and  Sainte-Croix,  the 
former  having  been  built  as  a  shrine  for  the  sacred 
relics  brought  back  by  Childebert  from  a  victori- 
ous expedition  against  the  Visigoths  (531-543) 
which  included  the  tunic  of  Saint-Vincent  and 
a  rich  cross  of  gold,  studded  with  precious  stones, 

185 


186  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

from  Toledo,  said  to  have  been  made  for  Solomon. 

Childebert  was  encouraged  and  supported  in  his 
pious  undertaking  by  Germain,  the  good  bishop 
of  Paris,  so  good  and  holy  a  man  that  he  was 
canonized  after  death.  When,  two  centuries  later, 
his  remains  were  lifted  from  their  first  resting- 
place — the  Oratory  of  Saint- Symphorien,  attached 
to  the  right  aisle  of  the  church — and  solemnly 
transferred  to  a  sepulchre  behind  the  altar  of 
Sainte-Croix,  the  basilica  was  rededicated  to 
Saint-Germain. 

Before  the  faubourg  was  inhabited,  the  abbey 
stood  in  the  middle  of  a  great  prairie  from  which 
it  took  its  name,  des  Pres — literally  Saint-Germain 
of  the  Fields  or  Meadows — to  distinguish  it  from 
Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois,  another  church,  con- 
temporary or  earlier,  across  the  river,  founded  in 
honour  of  the  bishop  of  Auxerre.  The  abbey  long 
remained  isolated  in  the  middle  of  these  meadows, 
so  famous  in  University  annals  that  they  were 
called  the  Pre  auoc  Clercs.  Various  cafes,  restau- 
rants, an  hotel,  and  a  remnant  of  a  street  pre- 
serve the  name. 

In  founding  the  monastery,  Childebert  gave  to 
the  abbots  his  fief  at  Issy  and  the  Oratory  Saint- 
Andreol,  afterwards  Saint-Andre-des-Arts,  with 
its  territory,  the  whole  comprising  a  vast  domain 


Photo  A.   Oiniudon 


CHILDEHEUT.       XIII TH    CENTURY    STATUE. 

FROJr    THE   ABBEY   OF    SAINT-GEBMAIN-DES-PRES. 

NOW    IN    THE   LOUVRE. 


SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRES       189 

extending  from  Sevres  to  the  Petit  Pont  along 
the  left  bank  of  the  Seine.  King  Pepin,  who  was 
present  at  the  ceremony  of  the  interment  of 
Saint-Germain  in  the  basilica,  gave  the  monastery 
on  this  occasion  the  royal  estate  at  Palaiseau,  with 
its  Merovingien  palace,  not  far  from  Paris. 

The  abbots  exercised  absolute  jurisdiction  both 
spiritual  and  temporal  over  the  faubourg  Saint- 
Germain,  whose  constructions  occupied  little  by 
little  a  large  part  of  the  lands  given  by  Childebert 
to  the  abbey,  and  in  1255  the  inhabitants  of  the 
villa  Sancti-Gervimn  were  enfranchized  and,  con- 
sidered as  a  body  entirely  distinct  from  Paris, 
enjoyed  special  immunities  and  made  their  own 
laws. 

In  the  Xlllth  century  the  village  was  of  small 
extent  and  chiefly  inhabited  by  vassals  of  the  abbey, 
mostly  agriculturalists,  and  consisted  of  thatched 
cottages,  granges,  and  rustic  buildings;  but  as  the 
taste  for  country  life  grew  amongst  the  nobles 
and  the  rich  bourgeoisie  of  Paris,  the  bourg  be- 
came the  country  seat  of  the  bishops  of  Rodez 
and  Limoges,  the  due  de  Bourbon,  the  seigneur 
de  Garanciere,  Madame  de  Valance,  Madame  de 
Cassel,  the  seigneur  de  la  Folic,  Regnier,  cardinal 
d'Ostie,   Navarre,   and   Nestle. 

When  Charles  V  declared  war  on  England,  in 


190  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

1368,  he  obliged  Richard,  the  abbot  of  Saint- 
Germain-des-Pres,  to  fortify  his  monastery,  to 
enclose  it  in  stout  walls,  defended  by  towers  and 
moats  filled  with  water  from  the  Seine,  as  a  safe- 
guard to  the  city  itself. 

In  the  XVIth  century  the  long  prosperity  of 
the  bourg  commenced,  and  gradually  its  rustic 
character  gave  way  to  that  of  an  opulent  suburb; 
luxurious  houses  replaced  the  cattle  sheds  of  the 
shepherds,  beautiful  gardens,  pasture  lands,  streets 
were  put  through  and  old  roads  mended  and  made 
thoroughfares.  The  duchesse  de  Savoie,  a  prin- 
cess of  the  blood,  and  grand  seigneurs  such  as  the 
dukes  of  Montpensier  and  Luxembourg,  and  a 
number  of  important  personages  and  foreign 
notables  such  as  Salviati  and  the  Gondis,  illus- 
trious men  like  Clement  Marot,  Ambroise  Pare, 
Jean  Cousin,  and  Du  Cerceau  built  sumptuous 
homes. 

In  the  XVIth  century  fashion  adopted  the 
quarter  and  it  was  considered  in  good  taste  to 
have  a  house  there.  The  life  combined  the  agree- 
able features  of  both  city  and  country;  tennis  was 
the  popular  relaxation,  and  on  fete  days  a  crowd 
flooded  the  Pre  aux  Clercs. 

Meanwhile  the  territory  of  the  abbey  was  much 
abridged   from   the   time   of   Henri   II   to   Louis 


SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRES       191 

XIV,  and  little  by  little  the  power  of  the  abbey 
was  restricted  to  its  actual  limits.  The  faubourg 
Saint-Germain  was  not  definitely  united  to  Paris 
until  under  Louis  XIV. 

As  the  church  had  been  the  nucleus,  so  the 
monasteiy  remained  the  centre  and  pivot  of  the 
world  which  grew  up  around  it.  From  Childebert 
to  Dagobert  the  basilica  had  served  as  sepulchre 
for  the  kings  and  princes  of  the  Merovingien 
Dynasty,  all  those  who  died  in  Paris  or  in  the 
diocese  were  buried  beneath  the  paving  of  the 
splendid  monument  to  its  founder  and  its  patron 
saints. 

Up  to  1503  the  abbots  were  elected  by  the 
monks,  but  afterwards  appointments  were  made 
by  the  crown.  From  its  riches  the  chief  was 
usually  a  cardinal,  sometimes  a  king,  and  Hugues 
Capet,  and  Casimir  V,  of  Poland,  were  amongst 
the  abbots  of  Saint-Germain-des-Pres.  The  comte 
du  Vexin,  son  of  Louis  XIV  and  Madame  de 
Montespan,  died  as  abbot  in  his  eleventh  year 
(1683)  and  lies  buried  in  the  church  with  Fran- 
cois, prince  de  Conde,  who  died  in  the  abbatial 
palace  in  1614,  and  his  children.  The  hearts  of 
cardinal  Charles  de  Bourbon,  Fran^oise  d'Orleans- 
Longueville,  princesse  de  Conde,  and  of  Henri  de 
Verneuil,  bastard  son  of  Henri  IV  and   former 


192  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

abbot    of    the    monastery,    were    interred    in    the 
church. 

Next  oldest  church  in  Paris,  after  Notre-Dame, 
its  origin  goes  back  to  the  earhest  souvenirs  of 
France,  while  its  founding  was  the  result  of  a 
curious  circumstance. 

As  narrated  by  dom  Bouillard  in  his  Histoire 
(le  VAhhaye  royale  Saint-Gennain-des-Prc::,  the 
facts  culled  from  Gregoire  de  Tours  and  For- 
tunat,  Childebert  and  his  brother  Clotaire  joined 
forces  in  Spain  against  Teudis,  the  king  of  the 
Visigoths,  the  mortal  enemies  of  the  Francs. 
After  capturing  Aragon  they  made  the  siege  of 
Saragossa,  and  sweeping  everything  before  them 
would  soon  have  captured  the  city,  but  for  the 
extraordinary  piety  and  faith  of  their  simple 
opponents.  Reduced  to  extremity  and  without 
hope  of  human  aid,  says  the  narrative,  the  in- 
habitants of  Saragossa  clothed  themselves  in  sack- 
cloth and  ashes,  and  singing  psalms  to  the  praise 
of  the  Lord,  carried  in  procession  about  the 
walls  of  the  city  the  tunic  of  Saint-Vincent,  who 
had  been  their  citizen,  hoping  thus  to  invoke  miracu- 
lous intervention  to  accomplish  the  humanly 
impossible. 

This  singular  means  of  defence  struck  Childe- 
bert and  Clotaire,  drawn  up  in  battle  array  with- 


SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRES       193 

out  the  walls  and  at  some  distance  from  the  city, 
with  astonishment  and  terror.  In  the  midst  of 
their  distress  a  peasant  was  seen  to  emerge  from 
the  city  by  one  of  the  gates,  and  the  kings  at 
once  had  him  arrested*  and  brought  before  them. 
When  he  appeared  they  asked  him  the  meaning 
of  this  demonstration  upon  the  walls,  to  which 
the  peasant  replied  with  simplicity,  that  the  peo- 
ple carried  in  procession  the  tunic  of  their  patron 
saint  Vincent,  in  order  to  appease  the  wrath  of 
God  and  to  obtain  the  raising  of  the  siege. 

We  are  constantly  astonished  at  the  incon- 
sistencies of  character  in  the  descendants  of 
]\Ierovee.  We  have  seen  Childebert  soften  before 
the  grief  and  terror  of  the  children  of  Clodomir; 
we  now  again  behold  the  brothers,  who  had  not 
scrupled  to  murder  their  nephews  for  their  own 
aggrandizement,  moved  to  tears  before  the  spec- 
tacle of  a  people's  naive  faith  and  piety.  Childe- 
bert and  C  lota  ire  wTre  so  touched,  says  the  nar- 
rative, that  they  raised  the  siege  and  promised 
to  leave  the  Visigoths  in  peace — upon  two  condi- 
tions: first,  that  Arianism  be  abolished  in  Spain; 
and  second,  that  the  tunic  of  Saint-Vincent  be 
given  them  as  a  trophy  of  war. 

Necessity  forced  the  Visigoths  to  accede  to  the 
demands,  and  Childebert  brought  the  sacred  vest- 


194  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

ment  to  Paris  with  great  solemnities.  With  the 
best  of  intentions  it  is  doubtful  whether  Childe- 
bert's  will  would  have  held  unaided  in  his  project 
to  raise  a  temple  over  the  trophies  of  his  victories, 
had  not  the  bishop  Germain  kept  him  to  his  word. 

Saint-Germain  was  of  Autun,  a  primitive  city 
of  middle  France.  There,  as  abbot  of  Saint- 
Symphorien,  he  had  become  famous  as  a  miracle 
worker  and  a  man  of  piety,  his  reputation  extend- 
ing far  and  wide;  so  that,  happening  to  be  in 
Paris  when  the  episcopal  chair  was  vacant  upon 
the  death  of  the  bishop  Eusebe,  he  was  appointed 
by  Childebert  to  fill  the  place.  This  dignity  the 
saint  bore  with  humility,  continuing  the  austerity 
of  his  life  until  old  age.  "  He  suffered  with 
sweetness,"  says  the  narrative,  "  the  cold  of  age — 
and  of  winter,  during  which  he  never  warmed 
himself." 

His  influence  over  the  king,  though  great,  he 
used  only  for  the  advantage  of  his  people  and 
his  church,  never  for  himself.  His  miracles  were 
many,  and  once  when  Childebert  was  mortally 
ill  in  his  chateau  de  Chelles,  at  Melun,  Germain 
spent  the  night  in  prayer  at  his  bedside,  and  the 
king  was  saved.  It  was  in  gratitude  for  this  that 
Childebert  built   Saint-Germain-des-Pres. 

The    church    was    erected    in    the    old    Roman 


SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRES       195 

suburb  of  Locutitius,  where,  according  to  tradi- 
tion, still  stood  the  vestiges  of  a  temple  to  Isis,  in 
order  that  the  worship  of  God  might  displace 
that  of  the  pagan  divinity.  Begun  about  556  it 
was  finished  in  558.  The  plan  of  the  church  was 
cruciform,  following  the  lines  of  Solomon's 
cross.  A  rich  mosaic  formed  the  paving,  and 
sheets  of  gilded  copper  covered  the  roof,  itself 
supported  by  great  marble  columns.  The  sides 
were  pierced  by  many  windows,  and  paintings  on 
a  background  of  gold  embellished  the  walls,  while 
a  ceiling  laid  in  gold  leaf  completed  an  ensemble 
so  rich  in  this  material  that  the  basilica  was  some- 
times called  Saint-Germain-le-dore,  or  le  palms 
dore  de  Saint-Germain.  Childebert  invested  it 
with  the  sacred  trophies — the  tunic,  the  gold  cross, 
thirty  chalices,  fifteen  patens,  twenty  caskets  in- 
tended to  hold  the  evangels.  All  this  we  know 
from  the  author  of  the  life  of  Doctrovee,  the  first 
abbot  of  the  monastery. 

At  the  end  of  each  arm  of  the  cross  was  an 
altar,  the  main  one,  to  the  east,  dedicated  to  the 
Sainte-Croix.  Besides  these  four  altars  Saint- 
Germain  had  erected,  to  the  right  of  the  main 
entrance,  an  oratory  to  Saint-Symphorien,  in 
memory  of  his  former  charge  at  Autun,  and  this 
he  chose  as  his  sepulchre.     Opposite  was  the  ora- 


196  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

tory  of  Saint-Pierre.  These  opened  from  the 
inside  of  the  church  and  constituted,  in  a  sense, 
chapels  of  the  nave. 

Childebert,  who  seems  at  the  time  to  have  re- 
sided at  the  Palais  des  Thermes,  walked  daily 
through  his  gardens  as  far  as  the  basilica,  to 
inspect  the  work.  This  we  know  from  the  writ- 
ings of  Fortunat.  The  good  bishop's  cure  pro- 
longed his  life  only  a  few  years,  for  Childebert 
fell  ill  again  before  the  church  was  finished,  and 
died  upon  the  day  of  dedication,  23  December, 
558.  The  ceremony  of  dedication  was  immediately 
followed  by  the  funeral  of  the  king;  he  was  in- 
terred with  pomp  in  the  church,  on  the  south  side 
between  the  second  and  third  pillars  of  the  apse, 
in  a  simple  stone  tomb,  slightly  raised  above  the 
level  of  the  paving. 

Clovis  and  Clotilde,  the  first  king  and  queen  of 
Paris,  together  with  their  two  murdered  grand- 
sons, were  buried  in  the  crypt  of  Sainte-Genevieve. 
From  Childebert,  their  son,  to  Dagobert,  their 
great-great-grandson,  the  builder  of  Saint-Denis, 
the  kings  and  princes  who  died  in  Paris,  or  in  the 
diocese,  were  buried  at  Saint-Germain-des-Pres. 
When  they  died  elsewhere  they  were  buried  in 
other  famous  churches,  as  for  instance,  Clotaire, 
dying  in  his  palace  at  Compiegne,  was  buried  in 


■Iioto  X 


SAINT-GERMAIN-DKS-PRES. 


SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRES       199 

the  basilica  of  Saint-^ledard,  in  his  old  capital  at 
Soissons.  Also  Sigebert  his  son,  assassinated  by 
the  furious  Fredegonde,  was  interred  at  Saint- 
Medard. 

Thus  Saint-Germain-des-Pres  became  famous  as 
the  burial  place  for  the  Merovingien  kings,  as  well 
as  the  shrine  of  Saint-Germain  himself,  and  the 
sepulchre  of  other  distinguished  and  notable  per- 
sonages. The  list  of  dignitaries  interred  in  the 
church  is  enormous,  from  Childebert,  558,  and 
Ultrogothe,  his  queen,  with  their  daughters,  Crot- 
berge  and  Clodesinde;  the  king  Caribert,  562; 
Chilperic,  584,  Fredegonde,  his  queen,  597,  with 
Merovee  and  Clovis,  his  sons;  Clotaire  II,  628, 
and  Bertrude,  his  wife;  Childeric  II  with  Bilihilde, 
his  wife,  673,  and  Dagobert,  their  infant  son, 
674.  These  last  three  sepulchres  were  discovered 
in  1646,  under  the  paving  of  the  choir,  near  the 
north  tower.  The  tomb  of  Clotaire  II  was  a 
simple  stone,  without  ornament  or  inscription. 

Chilperic  and  Fredegonde  were  buried  near  the 
wall  which  supports  the  north  bell  tower  of  the 
choir.  The  queen's  tomb  was  covered  by  a  slab 
in  mosaic  of  a  curious  workmanship,  the  outlines 
of  the  figure  and  ornaments  made  by  slender 
threads  of  gilded  copper.  Fredegonde  is  repre- 
sented in  the  middle  wearing  the  crown  of  fleur- 


200  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

de-lijs,  cand  the  flowering  sceptre  in  her  hand.  She 
wears  royal  robes,  belted.  Her  face  and  hands 
are  })lank — the  flat  plain  stone  was  perhaps  once 
painted.  The  whole  image  is  surrounded  by  a 
fine   ornamental   border. 

The  stone,  rescued  at  the  time  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, is  preserved  in  the  cathedral  at  Saint-Denis, 
where  it  forms  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  the 
royal  collection.  The  Benedictines  and  after  them 
antiquarians  of  the  old  school  considered  the 
monument  contemporary  with  the  queen  whose 
ashes  it  covered.  Should  this  be  true,  the  stone, 
owing  to  the  durable  qualities  of  the  mosaic.,  would 
be  the  only  one  from  Saint-Germain  which  sur- 
vived the  Norman  invasions,  when  the  riches  of 
the  abbey  made  it  a  first  object  of  pillage  and 
destruction.  In  this  case  it  has  been  conjectured 
that  the  bare  spaces  in  place  of  the  face  and 
hands,  already  referred  to,  were  covered  with  sil- 
ver or  even  gold,  engraved,  and  that  the  metal 
was  stolen  by  the  invaders.  The  baron  de 
Guilhermy,  however,  who  made  a  minute  examina- 
tion of  the  stone,  was  convinced  that  it  had  been 
restored  in  the  Xlth  century,  at  the  epoch  of  the 
first  general  reconstruction  of  the  basilica  under 
the  Abbe  Morard. 

We  must  remember  that  the  Normans  sacked. 


SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRES       201 

burned,  and  almost  entirely  destroyed  the  monas- 
tery, descending  upon  it  over  and  over  again,  in 
845,  847,  and  861.  The  body  of  the  saint  was 
the  chief  concern  of  the  priests,  and  we  have  seen 
how  it  was  carried  to  a  place  of  safety  witliin  the 
walls  of  the  city.  Other  sepulchres  were  dese- 
crated and  thus  the  tombs  of  Chilperic,  the  hus- 
band of  the  ferocious  Fredegonde,  and  of  Childe- 
bert,  the  founder,  were  recut  in  the  Xlth  centuiy. 

The  bones  of  Childebert  and  of  Ultrogothe,  his 
wife,  in  separate  sarcophagi,  were  gatliered  up 
in  the  year  1656  and  reinterred  in  the  centre  of 
the  choir  of  the  basib'ca,  in  a  new  tomb  of  marble 
upon  whose  sides  the  Benedictines  had  engraved 
beautiful  antique  inscriptions.  The  new  monu- 
ment was  crowned  by  the  ancient  stone  wliich  had 
covered  the  primitive  sepulchre  of  Childebert,  and 
which  seems  also  to  have  been  a  restoration  from 
the  Xlth  century.  This  stone  is  at  Saint-Denis 
and  is  distinguished  by  the  severity  and  grandeur 
of  its  style.  Sculptured  in  half-relief,  the  king 
carries  in  his  right  hand  the  apse  of  the  church 
which  he  founded,  and  in  his  left  a  flowering  scep- 
tre. The  drapery  of  the  figure  is  cut  by  a  master, 
and  the  whole  has  distinction  and  character. 

The  tomb  of  Chilperic,  sculptured  in  relief,  was 
similar   to   that   of   Childebert   and   made   at    the 


'202  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

same  time.  It  was  broken  during  the  Revolution 
and  is  replaced  by  an  inferior  copy  made  from 
engravings  of  the  older  monument. 

The  stones  engraved  with  the  portraits  of  Clo- 
taire  II  and  Bertrude,  his  queen,  and  of  Childeric 
II  were  taken  from  Saint-Germain-des-Pres,  and 
are  preserved  at  Saint-Denis.  They  were  cut  in 
1656,  after  the  ancient  originals  which  Bernard  de 
Montfaucon  tells  us  were  allowed  to  perish  with- 
out a  thought  for  their  archaeological  importance. 

The  existing  church  is  a  mere  fragment  of  the 
immense  constructions  that  constituted  the  rich 
and  powerful  abbey  which,  royally  endowed,  grew 
up  around  the  basilica  chosen  by  Saint-Germain 
for  his  sepulchre.  A  well,  known  as  the  Puits 
Saint-Germain,  was  behind  the  high  altar,  near 
the  tomb  of  the  saint;  its  water  was  reputed  to 
have  miraculous  curative  properties.  Abbon,  in 
his  poem  on  the  siege  of  Paris  by  the  Normans, 
mentions  this  well  and  the  virtues  of  its  waters. 
Most  early  churches  had  similar  miraculous  wells. 
The  opening  was  long  since  closed,  but  in  the 
early  days  so  many  miracles  were  performed  there 
that  the  church  became  a  great  sanctuary.  The 
illustrious  abbots  who  governed  it,  remarkable  for 
their  piety  and  wisdom,  contributed  also  to  its 
splendour.      Several  were   of  royal   blood,   others 


SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRES       203 

were  chancellors  and  graiids  aumoniers  of  France, 
others  rose  to  the  dignity  of  cardinals. 

The  monks  which  Saint-Germain  established  in 
the  monastery  came  from  Saint- Symphorien  of 
Autun,  they  followed  the  rules  of  Saint-Antoine 
and  Saint-Basile;  soon  they  embraced  those  of 
Saint-Benoit,  the  great  legislator  of  the  monks  of 
the  Occident.  In  the  XVIIth  century  the  abbey 
adopted  the  reform  of  Saint-^NIaur,  and  it  is  in 
this  return  to  the  severity  of  discipline  that  its 
monks  by  their  prodigious  labours  became  illus- 
trious all  over  Europe. 

The  buildings  erected  by  Childebert  and  his  suc- 
cessors were  devastated  by  the  Normans,  as  we 
have  said.  Each  time  these  terrible  men  made 
incursions  into  Paris  the  ab!)ev  of  Saint-Germain- 
des-Pres  was  the  first  exposed  to  their  fury.  Pil- 
laged, burned,  demolished,  it  was  merely  a  mass 
of  ruins  when  King  Eudes  finally  expelled  the 
barbarians. 

These  ruins  had  been  patched  up  from  time  to 
time  and  made  to  serve  as  best  they  could  until 
the  time  of  Robert  the  Pious,  when  the  abbe 
Morard,  assisted  by  this  prince,  had  the  ruins  torn 
down  and  rebuilt  the  church  upon  the  old  founda- 
tions. This  we  know  from  the  inscription  upon 
the   sepulchre   of  the  abbe   Morard,   recorded   by 


204  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

pere  Dubreul  (d.  1614).  Roughly  translated 
from  the  Latin  it  read:  "Here  lies  Morard  of 
happy  nieniory,  the  abbot  who  rebuilt  on  the  foun- 
dations of  this  church,  after  having  destroyed  the 
old  one,  which  was  three  times  burned  by  the  Nor- 
mans. He  also  built  a  tower  and  several  other 
things."  The  tomb  and  inscription  perished  when 
the  paving  of  the  church  was  renewed,  but  the 
Louvre  (Salle  XXXVIII)  preserves  the  stone 
lid  of  a  sarcophagus  found  in  the  course  of  excava- 
tions made  under  the  superintendence  of  Alex- 
andre Lenoir  in  1799,  under  the  place  where  the 
high  altar  used  to  stand,  and  which  is  attributed  to 
the  tomb  of  the  abbe  Morard.  It  is  a  very  hand- 
some piece  of  stone  cutting,  saddleback  in  shape, 
ornamented  with  fish-scales  and  palms  and  a  vine 
stock  growing  from  a  vase  on  the  sides.  Lenoir 
describes  fully  the  sarcophagus  and  its  contents 
exhumed  at  the  time. 

From  the  Boulevard  Saint-Germain  one  sees 
distinctly  the  base  of  the  old  south  tower  of  the 
choir,  cut  off  square  at  the  point  of  departure  of 
the  flcche,  the  companion  of  the  north  tower,  built 
by  the  abbe  Morard,  less  visible  from  the  Rue 
de  FAbbaye.  Old  engravings  show  the  church  as 
once  having  had  three  high-pointed  steeples,  one 
to  the  west  and  two  rising  from  the  intersection  of 


SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRES       205 

the  arms  of  the  cross.  These  were  embelHshments 
added  to  the  original  plan  under  the  reconstruc- 
tion. 

It  has  always  been  considered  that  the  quad- 
rangular tower,  at  the  main  entrance,  which  gives 
the  church  the  appearance  of  a  fortress,  belonged 
to  the  first  construction.  The  lower  part  is  older 
than  the  upper,  which,  together  with  the  oldest 
parts  of  the  nave,  are  thought  to  have  been  built 
in  the  Xlth  century.  Exceedingly  bare  and  un- 
assuming, it  retains,  despite  the  drastic  repara- 
tions and  modifications  it  has  undergone,  its  unmis- 
takably primitive  character,  as  does  in  fact  the 
whole  exterior  of  this  solemn  old  church  with  the 
many  excrescences  which  have  adhered  to  it. 

Walk  under  the  dingy  porch  and  raise  the  eyes 
to  the  shadowy  space  above  the  door.  As  the  eye 
accustoms  itself  to  the  obscurity,  quaint,  rude 
sculpture  reveals  itself.  First  a  long  stone  slab 
carved  with  little  figures  seated  at  a  table,  the 
folds  of  the  cloth  elaborately  exaggerated — it  is 
the  Last  Supper,  for  see,  there  is  John  lying  in 
a  somewhat  absurd  attitude  across  the  knees  of 
Jesus.  The  door  has  been  clumsily  changed  from 
Roman  to  Gothic  so  that  of  the  twelve  apostles 
one  counts  but  ten,  the  eleventh  disappears  into 
the  right-hand  wall,  and  the  twelfth  is  completely 


206  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

covered  by  the  alteration  of  the  arch.  The  heads 
of  Christ  and  most  of  the  disciples  have  been 
broken  off,  but  under  the  regular  folds  of  the  table- 
cloth the  feet  appear  in  neat  pairs,  except  where 
a  break  has  been  repaired. 

Above  this  panel  is  a  still  more  strange  human 
figure,  in  half-length,  full  face,  the  arms  extended, 
the  hands  broken  off  above  the  wrists — but  accord- 
ing td  old  descriptions  once  raised  in  an  attitude 
of  prayer.  These  two  reliefs,  which  go  back 
surely  to  earliest  Christian  times  in  Gaul,  may  be 
cited  as  proof  of  the  antiquity  of  the  tower. 

The  pillage  of  this  door,  which  destroyed  the 
royal  portraits  of  the  porch,  at  the  time  of  the 
Revolution,  has  left  us  some  extremely  interesting 
capitals  to  the  restored  columns.  These  present 
handsome  carving  of  decorative  birds  feeding 
upon  pomegranates,  alternated  with  foliated  de- 
signs. The  Cluny  Museum  (Salle  des  Thermes) 
preserves  a  collection  of  similar  capitals  from  the 
interior  of  the  church,  evidently  of  the  same  epoch 
and  probably  by  the  same  sculptor.  They  are 
hsted  as  Xllth  century. 

The  eight  statues  which  stood,  four  to  each  side 
of  the  door,  and  which  were  in  place  until  the 
Revolution,  also  went  back  to  the  first  construc- 
tion.    Fortunately  they  had  been  engraved  in  sev- 


SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRES       207 

eral  works/  so  that  we  know  how  they  looked, 
and  that  they  presented  the  forms  and  costumes 
of  the  Vlth  century,  and  greatly  resembled  the 
statues  of  Saint  Anne's  porch  at  Notre-Dame  and 
other  originals  existing  at  Chartres. 

The  figures  represented,  it  is  thought,  Childe- 
bert  (the  founder),  his  wife,  his  parents,  his 
brothers,  and  a  bishop.  The  bishop  stood  first  to 
the  right  on  coming  out  of  the  church,  then  Clovis 
and  Clotilde  and  their  first  son,  Clodomir.  On 
the  other  side  Thierry,  Childebert,  Ultrogothe 
(his  queen)  and  Clotaire.  Pere  IMabillon  thought 
the  bishop  was  Saint-Germain,  a  natural  conclu- 
sion, but  a  more  thoughtful  student,  dom  Thierry, 
considered  the  figure  to  have  been  that  of  Saint- 
Remi,  who  converted  the  Francs.  He  stood  next 
to  Clovis,  whom  he  baptised,  and  he  treads  under 
foot  the  dragon,  emblem  of  unbelief.  It  would 
seem  to  have  been  characteristic  of  the  modesty  of 
the  bishop  Germain  to  have  ceded  his  place  to 
Remi. 

Montfaucon,  writing  in  1724,  describes  the 
scrolls  which  the  kings  carried  and  upon  which 
one  could  in  his  day  still  decipher  some  of  the 
letters  of  their  names.    Clovis  and  Childebert  only 

*  Notably   Les   Monuments   de    la  Monarchie    Franqaise.     Bernard 
de  Montfaucon. 


208  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

carried  the  sceptre,  as  kings  of  Paris,  and  Childe- 
bert  holds  also  a  book — the  sign  of  the  founder. 
Clotilde  was  usually  represented  with  a  web  foot, 
and  was  called  la  reine  pcdauque,  or  the  queen 
with  a  goose's  foot.  The  figures  all  wore  the  halo, 
following  the  example  of  the  Roman  emperors, 
the  custom  which  marked  the  Merovingien  race. 

The  principal  entrance  to  the  church  is  now  in 
the  Rue  Bonaparte,  or  rather  in  the  Place  Saint- 
Germain-des-Pres,  an  opening  made  by  the  com- 
paratively recent  cutting  through  of  the  modern 
Rue  de  Rennes.  As  we  see  it  upon  the  old  charts 
the  monastery  was  enclosed  by  the  Rues  Saint- 
Benoit,  Sainte-Marguerite  (now  swallowed  up  in 
the  Boulevard  Saint-Germain),  de  FEchaude, 
and  Colombier  (now  the  Rue  Jacob).  The  main 
entrance  was  from  the  Rue  Saint-Benoit  to  the 
west,  and  the  church  stood  well  within  the  enclo- 
sure surrounded  by  the  cloisters,  the  refectory, 
the  famous  Chapel  of  the  Virgin,  the  abbatial 
palace,  and  the  gaol. 

There  were  two  cloisters,  large  and  small,  both 
to  the  north  of  the  church.  One  of  the  sides  of 
the  larger  cloister,  that  which  touches  the  church, 
has  been  almost  entirely  preserved  and  is  now  dis- 
tributed in  apartments.  Its  round  arches,  doric 
pilasters,  and  frieze  with  triglyphs  dates  from  the 


SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRES       209 

XVIIth  centuiy.  A  portion  of  it  may  be  well 
seen  from  the  court  of  No.  13  Rue  de  I'Abbaye. 
The  Rue  de  I'Abbaye  cuts  the  site  of  the  great 
cloister  through  the  middle. 

The  refectory,  constructed  in  the  time  of  the 
abbe  Simon,  by  the  illustrious  architect  of  Saint- 
Louis,  Pierre  de  Montereau,  was  considered  a 
masterpiece.  This  great  room  was  fifty  feet 
long  by  thirty-two  feet  wide.  Legendary  subjects 
embellished  with  the  arms  of  France  and  of  Cas- 
tille  done  in  gorgeous  glass  filled  the  windows. 
Several  panels  are  preserved  in  the  Chajjelle  de 
Sainte-Genevieve,  in  the  apse  of  the  church,  and 
others  at  Saint-Denis.  The  lectern  was  a  marvel 
of  sculpture.  A  statue  of  Childebert,  in  painted 
stone,  stood  at  the  entrance  and  is  now  taken 
care  of  in  the  Louvre  (Salle  IX)  ;  it  dates  from 
the  middle  Xlllth  century,  and  is  contemporary 
with  the  refectory  itself,  which  was  built  from 
1239  to  1244. 

Gathered  together  in  the  small  park  which 
opens  from  a  corner  of  the  church  are  fragments 
of  the  great  chapel  to  the  Virgin,  the  chef-d'oeuvre 
of  Pierre  de  Montereau,  a  chapel  resembling  in 
style  and  disposition  his  existing  monument,  the 
Sainte-Chapelle.  A  particularly  handsome  frag- 
ment is  also  displayed  in  the  garden  of  the  Cluny 


210  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Museum.  From  this  debris,  constituting  gar- 
goyles, balustrades,  columns,  and  ornaments,  found 
in  a  garden  at  the  corner  of  the  Rue  de  lAbbaye 
and  Rue  P^'urstemberg,  as  well  as  from  the  many 
contemporary  descriptions  one  can  build  up  some 
idea  of  the  beauty  of  this  celebrated  chapel.  It 
was  begun  under  the  abbe  Hugues  of  Issy  (d. 
1247)  and  completed  under  Thomas  de  Mauleon, 
who  resigned  in  1255,  and  like  the  Sainte-Chapelle 
belongs  entirely  to  the  reign  of  Saint-Louis. 
Smaller  than  the  chapel  of  the  Palais,  it  was  one 
hundred  feet  long,  twenty-seven  feet  wide,  and 
forty-seven  feet  in  height.  The  door  of  the  chapel, 
sculptured  with  great  finesse,  and  the  statue  of 
the  Virgin  from  its  pier  are  at  Saint-Denis. 

When  Pierre  de  Montereau  died,  in  1266,  the 
abbe  Gerard  de  Moret  raised  a  monument  to  him 
in  the  Chapelle  de  la  Vierge. 

The  opening  of  the  Rue  de  lAbbaye  cost  this 
old  quarter  the  refectory  and  the  chapel.  Impor- 
tant fragments  of  the  latter  remained,  however, 
for  many  years  and  were  inhabited  by  artists  who 
found  here  a  sympathetic  environment.  I  have 
before  me  a  letter,  written  by  one  of  them,  Truman 
H.  Bartlett,  dated  January  21,  1920,  which  con- 
tains a  description  of  this  quarter  as  he  knew  it 
in  the  early  seventies.     He  says :  "  The  old  num- 


SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRES       211 

ber  10  Rue  de  I'Abbaye  was  my  studio,  in  '72-3-4. 
It  was  originally  the  Chapel  of  the  Virgin  of  the 
church  Saint-Germain-des-Pres.  The  first  floor 
was  slightly  below  the  street  and  its  paving  con- 
sisted of  handsome  stones  inscribed  with  the  names 
of  the  eminent  monks  buried  there.  Below  this 
was  another  floor  reached  by  a  narrow  steep  stair 
where  there  was  a  fine  well  of  water,  and  from 
this  lower  story  was  the  door  of  a  stone  passage- 
way leading  to  a  larger  one  that  went  down  from 
the  church  to  the  Rue  Bonaparte  and  continued 
to  the  Seine.  When  the  city  put  a  large  sewer 
through  the  Rue  de  Rennes  I  happened  to  pass 
by  and  see  the  whole  thing.  The  large  stone  pas- 
sage was  used  in  early  times  by  the  monks  to 
reach  the  Seine  during  the  Norman  invasions." 

A  modern  apartment  house  blots  out  every  ves- 
tige of  the  building  of  which  Mr.  Bartlett  speaks, 
but  the  old  abbey  cellars  are  still  in  existence. 

The  Palais  Abbatial  still  stands  to  the  rear  of 
the  church,  entered  from  the  Rue  de  I'Abbaye,  a 
handsome  brick  and  stone  edifice  of  the  late 
XVIth  century.  A  monument  to  the  munificence 
of  cardinal  de  Bourbon,  who  built  it  about  1586, 
it  conserves  in  its  handsome  roof  and  graceful 
design,  despite  the  general  dishonour  of  its  finer 
attributes,   a  distinguished   and  unmistakable   air. 


212  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Concealed  behind  an  ugly  brick  wall  is  the  hand- 
some old  doorway  of  the  palace  of  the  abbots,  but 
within  all  is  changed. 

Mere  names  now  remain  to  mark  once  famous 
spots.  The  Rue  Cardinal  curved  around  the  sta- 
bles of  the  palace  and  along  the  gardens  behind 
and  to  the  south  of  the  church. 

The  abbey  was  suppressed  on  February  13, 
1792,  and  the  church  was  closed.  The  refectory 
which  served  as  a  prison  in  1793  was  destroyed 
by  an  explosion  in  the  following  year  (part  of 
the  building  having  been  made  into  a  factory  for 
the  manufacture  of  saltpetre).  The  monks  then 
forgotten  in  their  liomes  were  obliged  to  seek 
another  shelter,  and  fled  all  with  the  exception 
of  dom  Poirier,  who,  like  Cassandra  on  the  ruins 
of  Ilion,  would  not  abandon  the  smoking  ruins. 
Thanks  to  this  devoted  Benedictine  the  library, 
which  had  caught  fire,  was  partly  saved.  The 
manuscripts  were  all  preserved  and  in  1795  were 
brought  to  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale.  The 
library  contained  nearly  fifty  thousand  printed 
volumes  and  over  seven  thousand  manuscripts. 

In  1792  the  gaol  of  the  abbey,  situated  at  the 
southeastern  angle  of  the  enclosure,  was  a  scene 
of  horror.  Priests  and  nobles  in  great  number 
were   imprisoned   there. 


SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRES       213 

Under  the  Restoration  many  monuments  and 
other  valuables,  given  temporary  shelter  in 
Lenoir's  hastily  improvised  museum  at  the  Beaux- 
Arts,  were  given  back  to  the  church.  These  in- 
cluded a  Virgin  in  marble,  called  Notre-Dame-la- 
Blanche  (which  the  Queen  Jeanne  d'Evreux  had 
given  in  1340  to  the  abbey  of  Saint-Denis) ,  a  statue 
of  Sainte-Marguerite  by  frere  Jacques  Bourlet 
(1705),  and  a  figure  of  Saint-Fran9ois  Xavier,  by 
Coustou  jeune. 

The  mausoleum  of  Casimir,  king  of  Poland, 
who  became  abbot  of  Saint-Germain  in  1669, 
after  having  renounced  his  crown,  was  reestab- 
lished about  1824,  in  the  left  transept.  The 
kneeling  figure,  offering  his  crown  and  sceptre, 
is  by  JNIarsy,  the  relief  underneath  is  by  Jean 
Thibaut. 

In  the  opposite  transept  is  a  similar  tomb,  rees- 
tablished at  the  same  time,  of  Oliver  and  Louis  de 
Castellan,  killed  in  the  service  of  the  king  in  1644 
and  1669.  The  figures  and  medallions  are  by 
Girardon. 

In  two  chapels  opposite  each  other  in  the  apse 
are  the  tombs  of  William  and  James  Douglas, 
while  the  tomb  of  the  Douglas  family  was  in  the 
chapel  of  Saint-Christophe.  William  Douglas,  a 
prince  of   Scotland   and   illustrious   warrior,   died 


214  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

in  1611,  in  the  service  of  Henri  IV.  James,  his 
grandson,  was  killed  in  1645,  aged  eighteen  years, 
in  a  combat  near  Douai. 

At  the  time  of  the  Revolution  the  remains  of 
Nicolas  Boileau,  Rene  Descartes,  Jean  Mabillon, 
and  Bernard  de  Montfaucon  were  piously  gath- 
ered up  and  placed  in  safety  at  the  Musee  des 
Petits-Augustins,  and  after  the  suppression  of 
this  museum  were  deposited  at  Saint-Germain- 
des-Pres.  Boileau  reposed  formerly  in  the  Sainte- 
Chapelle,  Descartes  at  Sainte-Genevieve,  while  the 
two  savants — monks  of  this  abbey — returned  to 
their  original  resting  places.  The  ashes  of 
Mabillon,  de  Montfaucon,  and  Descartes  with 
their  inscriptions  are  in  the  second  chapel  of  the 
apse,  dedicated  to  the  Sacred  Heart.  Boileau's 
inscription  has  been  erected  in  the  Chapel  of 
Saint  Peter  and  Saint  Paul. 

The  Chapelle  Sainte-Genevieve  is  enriched  by 
the  two  Xlllth  century  glass  windows,  recon- 
structed from  the  debris  of  the  windows  of  the 
refectory.  These  represent  Anne  and  Joachim, 
the  Annunciation,  the  Marriage  of  the  Virgin, 
and  perhaps  some  of  the  Acts  of  Mercy.  A  panel 
or  two  has  been  remade. 

The  old  high  altar,  remade  in  1704,  was  com- 
pletely destroyed.     Six  columns  of  cipolin  marble 


S  AINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRES       213 

which  supported  the  baldaquin,  brought  from  the 
ruins  of  a  Roman  city  in  Africa,  in  the  reign  of 
Louis  XIV,  have  been  erected  in  the  picture  gal- 
leries of  the  Louvre.  This  altar  with  its  mag- 
nificent decorations  was  still  in  place  in  1792. 

A  partial  restoration  of  the  church  was  under- 
taken in  1820,  when  ruin  menaced  the  northern 
part,  and  at  this  time  the  belfrys  of  the  transept 
were  taken  down.  The  present  restoration  was 
undertaken  in  1845,  when  were  added  the  poly- 
chrome decoration  of  the  interior  as  we  now  see 
it   and   the   Flandrin   mural   paintings. 

The  whole  effect  strikes  one  as  curious  and  in- 
teresting rather  than  good,  and  the  ensemble  lacks 
harmony,  though  in  parts  it  is  both  gorgeous  and 
effective. 

The  wall  panels  throughout  the  nave  and 
choir  represent  the  greatest  work  of  Hippolyte 
Flandrin  and  occupied  the  artist  from  1842  to 
1849.  The  earliest  of  the  panels  are  those  on  the 
left  side,  as  one  faces  the  altar.  The  series  rep- 
resents: Christ's  entrance  into  Jerusalem;  four 
symbolic  figures.  Faith,  Hope,  Charity,  and  Pa- 
tience; Saint-Germain  accompanied  by  Doctrovee, 
the  first  abbot  of  Saint-Germain-des-Pres,  receiv- 
ing from  Childebert  and  Ultrogothe  the  model  of 
this  basilica. 


216  A  LOITERER  IX  PARIS 

In  18-1-3.  before  tbese  panels  were  fimshed  tbe 
city  voted  the  funds  for  the  decoration  of  the 
opposite  side  and  these  panels  are:  Jesus  carrying 
his  ax>ss  to  Calvary:  Justice,  Prudence,  Temper- 
ance, and  Force:  and  Saint-Tmcent,  martyr,  ac- 
cmnpanied  by  Pope  Alexander  III,  abbe  Morard, 
Saint-Benoit.  and  King  Robert.  THs  subject 
refers  to  the  consecratioQ  of  the  second  cturch  in 
1163. 

The  decoratiotii  ui  the  choir  show  the  twelve 
apostles  on  a  gold  background,  united  by  a  poly- 
cfarome  decoraticxi.  At  the  back,  upon  the  round- 
point  is  the  Lamb  of  God,  holding  the  world  and 
'.:.±  standard  of  triumph.  About  him  are  the  four 
«vrnbols  of  the  evangelists,  the  eaork,  the  nng^l, 
;i_c  UoD.  and  the  winged  bull.  Tbe  modem  win- 
dows of  tile  church  were  also  made  from  designs 
bv  Flandrin. 


CHAPTER  X 
SAIXT-GERMAIX-L  AUXERROIS 

Fairly  launched  now  upon  the  birth  of  the 
Gothic,  Paris  presents  an  embarrassment  of 
riches  in  churches  which  show  the  transition  as 
■well  as  the  full  flower  of  this  delightful  period. 
A  visit  to  Saint-G^miain-rAuxerrois,  the  most 
accessible,  as  it  is  the  most  perfect  example  of 
its  type,  might  well  be  preceded  by  a  tour  of 
some  of  the  smaller,  fragmentary  churches,  of 
earher  actual  construction,  such  as  Saint- 
G^rmain-de-Charonne,  near  the  cemetery  Pere 
Lachaise,  Saint-Pierre-de-Montmartre,  Saint- 
Julien-le-Pauvre.  and  most  beautiful  of  all  the 
old  priory  church  of  Saint-Martin-des-Champs. 
now  part  of  the  Conservatoire  des  Arts  et 
Metiers. 

If  one  leaves  these  for  a  following  chapter,  it 
is  not  only  because  Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois 
antedates  them  in  point  of  foundation,  but  also 
with  the  hope  that  as  acquaintance  with  these 
churches  grows  the  loiterer  will  have  more  interest 
in   discovering   such    scattered    relics    of   a    richer 

217 


218  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

time,  and  more  cleverness  in  detecting  their  gen- 
uine features. 

In  Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois  as  it  stands  we 
see,  despite  much  lamentable  modification  and 
restoration,  a  very  beautiful  example  of  Gothic 
architecture  in  its  flower.  The  belfry  belongs  to 
the  Xllth  century,  the  main  entrance,  choir,  and 
apse  to  the  first  half  of  the  Xlllth,  the  greater 
part  of  the  fa9ade,  the  nave,  the  transepts,  and 
the  chapels  to  the  XVth  and  XVIth  centuries. 

Restorations  have  been  many  and  disastrous, 
the  last  dating  from  the  reign  of  Xapoleon  III, 
when  the  edifice  was  made  part  of  an  architectural 
scheme  which  included  the  erection  of  the  town 
hall  or  Mairie  of  the  Arrondissement  du  Louvre, 
built  in  imitation  of  the  Gothic  church  to  which 
it  forms  a  pendant,  and  the  tower,  by  Ballu, 
standing  between  them. 

The  value  of  this  arrangement,  so  confusing  to 
visitors,  is  more  than  doubtful.  While  making 
rather  a  handsome  terminus  to  the  Louvre  the 
imitations  rob  Saint-Germain  of  its  unique  im- 
portance, diminish  its  intrinsic  lustre. 

As  Saint-Germain-des-Pres  relates  to  the  good 
bishop  of  Paris,  so  Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois  is 
dedicated  to  the  still  earlier  bishop  of  Auxerre, 
him  who  consecrated  Genevieve,  the  patron  saint 


Flwto  X 


saint-germain-l'atjxekeois. 
under  the  pokch. 


Photo  A.  Giraudon 


THE   DESCENT   FROM    THE   CROSS. 

BV   JEAN    GOUJO.N. 

PART   OF   THE   DECORATION    OF   THE   ANCIENT 

ROOD-LOFT   OF   SAINT-GERMAIN-L'aUXERROIS. 

NOW   IN    THE   LOUVUE 


SAINT-GERMAIN  -L'AUXERROIS     221 

of  Paris.  Though  the  exact  period  of  its  founda- 
tion is  unknown,  Lebeuf  thinks  it  was  first  con- 
structed to  commemorate  some  miracle  or  act  of 
Saint-Germain  d'Auxerre  during  his  sojourn  in 
the  city,  or  that  it  may  have  been  erected  by 
Saint-Germain  of  Paris,  as  a  tribute  to  his  greatly 
venerated  predecessor. 

After  the  tradition  of  the  diocese  King  Childe- 
bert  and  Ultrogothe,  his  queen,  enriched  the  new 
church,  whose  importance  became  second  only  to 
that  of  the  cathedral.  In  866  it  was  sacked  by 
the  Normans  and  converted  by  them  into  a  for- 
tress, after  which  it  was  called  Saint-Germain-le- 
Rond,  from  its  circular  form.  From  the  time  of 
Charlemagne  at  least,  a  public  school  of  great 
celebrity  attracted  to  the  cloister  numerous 
students,  its  location  recalled  in  the  name  of  the 
Place  de  VEcole,  running  from  behind  the  right 
side  of  the  church  to  the  quai,  which  formerly  bore 
the  same  name,  the  name  by  which  they  were 
known  in  the  Xlllth  century.  The  life  of  King 
Robert  (by  Helgaud)  mentions  the  rebuilding  of 
the  church  by  this  prince,  but  that  reconstruction 
has  been  wiped  out  by  a  later  one  done  witli 
thoroughness  and  deliberation. 

A  cloister  once  enclosed  a  part  of  the  church 
and   the   house   of   the    dean    stood    opposite   the 


222  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

porch,  between  the  church  and  the  Louvre;  old 
cuts  show  chapels,  one  each  side  of  the  porch,  and 
a  steeple  surmounting  the  tower.  It  was  from 
this  tower  that  the  tocsin  was  rung  after  mid- 
night on  the  morning  of  August  24,  1572,  by  the 
order  of  Catherine  de  Medicis,  as  the  signal  for 
the  Massacre  of  Saint  Bartholomew,  and  the 
modern  tower  marks  the  spot  where,  two  days 
before,  an  attempt  had  been  made  upon  the  life 
of  Admiral  Coligny,  the  first  victim  of  the  mas- 
sacre, as  he  was  returning  from  the  Louvre  to 
his  home,  in  the  Rue  de  Betizy,  along  the  Rue  des 
Fosses  Saint-Germain.  The  house  from  which 
the  shot  was  fired  was  that  of  the  Canon  Pierre 
de  Pille  de  Villemur,  a  former  preceptor  of  the 
Duke  of  Guise.  It  stood  in  the  Rue  des  Fosses 
Saint-Germain,  contiguous  to  the  church,  into 
which  there  was  an  opening  from  it  by  a  back 
door.  The  assassin  made  his  escape  through  the 
cloister,  mounted  a  horse  which  stood  ready  sad- 
dled for  him,  and  fled  from  the  city  by  the  Porte 
Saint- Antoine. 

In  the  Place  de  I'Ecole  lived  in  the  XlVth 
century  Etienne  Marcel,  provost  of  the  merchants 
of  Paris,  who  as  chief  of  the  Jacquerie  led  the 
revolt  of  the  lower  classes  against  the  nobles 
during  the  captivity  of  the  king,  Jean  le  Bon; 


SAINT-GERMAIN-L'AUXERROIS     223 

and  here  lived  also,  as  a  boy  of  fourteen,  Calvin, 
the  reformer,  with  his  uncle  Richard,  a  locksmith, 
in  a  little  room  overlooking  the  church,  awakened 
each  morning  by  the  chants  to  attend  the  College 
de  la  Marche. 

The  church,  of  course,  antedates  the  Louvre, 
which  at  its  most  remote  construction  dates  from 
the  time  of  Philippe  Auguste,  but  when  built 
both  the  Louvre  and  the  Tuileries  became  parish- 
ioners of  Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois,  making  it 
the  royal  church  of  Paris,  and  many  princes  of 
France  were  baptised  here. 

It  is  undoubtedly  the  portico  which  gives  to  the 
church  its  distinguished  character  and  contributes 
its  most  piquant  note  of  elegance.  This  porch 
is  the  work  of  Jean  Gaussel,  and  dates  from 
1435,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  VII.  Its  pic- 
turesqueness  is  created  in  part  by  the  disposition 
of  the  seven  pointed  arches  which  give  free  access 
to  it,  five  across  the  front  and  one  at  each  end. 
The  vaulted  ceiling,  low  at  the  sides  and  high  in 
the  middle,  is  marked  by  prismatic  ribs  converg- 
ing from  the  angles  and  tied  together  at  their 
points  of  junction  by  a  boss,  or  stud,  or 
escutcheon,  elaborately  sculptured.  The  central 
one,  bearing  the  arms  of  France,  has  been  dis- 
placed,  but   on   the   two    sides,   under   the   lower 


224  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

vaultings,  one  makes  out  readily  the  circular  de- 
signs, in  full  relief,  painted  and  gilded,  of  the 
Last  Supper  and  the  Adoration  of  Christ  by  the 
Shepherds.  Where  the  ribs  finish  against  the 
walls,  there  are  consoles  representing  a  fool  with 
his  bauble,  grotesques,  and  little  animals  in  dif- 
ferent attitudes,  carved  with  relish. 

Of  the  ancient  figures  of  the  porch  there  re- 
main but  that  of  Sainte-Marie-l'Egyptienne, 
against  the  second  pillar  from  the  left  end,  and 
a  much  mutilated  Saint  Francis  of  Assisi  at  the 
other  extremity.  The  carving  of  the  former  is 
vigorous,  the  figure  lifelike  and  animated,  obviously 
much  earlier  than  the  others.  The  sculptor  had 
evidently  filled  himself  with  the  naive  history  of  this 
saint,  for  in  the  quaint  figure,  clothed  in  her  long, 
wavy  tresses,  and  holding  piled  one  upon  the  other 
the  three  loaves  of  bread  with  which  she  is  to  be 
nourished  during  a  lifetime  of  penitence  in  the 
desert,  we  seem  to  feel  the  whole  touching  story 
as  told  in  La  Legende  Doree. 

Translated  from  the  Latin  of  the  most  ancient 
manuscripts,  the  story  runs  briefly  that  Zozime, 
an  abbot,  having  crossed  the  Jordan,  hoping  to 
encounter  in  the  desert  some  saintly  hermit,  saw 
one  day  before  him  a  bizarre  creature,  entirely 
nude,  with  the  body  burned  black  with  the  sun. 


SAINT-GERMAIN-L'AUXERROIS     225 

Seeing  him  the  creature  fled  across  the  sands  and 
Zozime  ran  after  it  "  with  all  the  force  of  his 
legs."  Then  it  spoke  surprisingly,  saying: 
"  Abbe  Zozime,  why  do  you  pursue  me?  Pardon 
me  that  I  camiot  turn  towards  you;  it  is  be- 
cause I  am  a  woman,  and  quite  nude.  Throw  me 
your  cloak,  in  order  that,  being  covered,  I  may 
look  at  you  without  shame."  The  abbot,  stupe- 
fied to  hear  himself  called  by  name,  divined  at 
once  that  he  had  to  do  with  a  person  of  super- 
natural powers.  He  threw  his  mantle  and,  pros- 
trating himself  before  her,  asked  her  to  bless  him. 
But  she  said:  "It  is  for  you  rather  to  bless  me, 
father,  you  who  are  clothed  with  the  dignity  of 
priesthood." 

The  abbot  now  more  than  ever  convinced  that 
the  woman  was  indeed  especially  endowed  pre- 
vailed upon  her  to  bless  him  and  afterwards  to 
tell  him  her  history.  "  I  am  called  Marie,"  she 
begins,  "  and  I  was  born  in  Egypt."  At  the  age 
of  twelve,  recounts  Marie,  she  went  to  Alexandria 
and  commenced  the  career  of  public  courtesan, 
which  she  continued  for  seventeen  years,  but 
being  converted  in  Jerusalem,  where  she  had  gone 
from  curiosity  to  see  the  holy  cross,  she  had  prom- 
ised to  renounce  the  world  and  live  forevermore 
in  chastity.     While   she   was   praying  before  the 


226  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

cross  a  stranger  put  three  pieces  of  money  into 
her  hand,  and  with  these  she  purchased  the  three 
loaves  of  bread. 

Obeying  a  voice  she  crossed  the  Jordan  and 
took  up  her  abode  in  the  desert,  where  for  forty- 
six  years  she  hved  without  ever  seeing  a  human 
face,  subsisting  upon  the  three  loaves  of  bread, 
which,  becoming  hard  as  stone,  still  sufficed  for 
her  nourishment. 

Zozime  comes  again  twice  to  the  desert  to  ad- 
minister the  holy  sacrartient  to  Marie  on  Easter 
day.  The  second  time  he  finds  her  lying  dead 
near  the  place  of  their  first  encounter,  and  where, 
aided  by  a  friendly  lion,  he  digs  a  grave  and 
piously  inters  her  remains. 

The  story,  as  told  by  the  ancient  narrator,  is 
full  of  convincing  detail,  such  as  is  demanded  by 
children.  Everything  is  accounted  for.  Having 
no  money  to  pay  her  passage  from  Alexandria  to 
Jerusalem  when  she  wishes  to  make  that  pious 
pilgrimage  with  the  other  inhabitants  of  the  city, 
she  makes  a  bargain  with  the  boatman,  which, 
though  shameful,  she  does  not  hesitate  to  de- 
scribe to  Zozime,  feeling,  perhaps,  that  the  end 
justified  the  means.  While,  as  to  her  garments, 
"  long  ago,"  says  she,  "  they  fell  in  pieces." 

It    seems    fairly    certain     that    originally    the 


SAINT-GERMAIN-L'AUXERROIS     227 

spirited  statue  of  the  portico  of  Saint-Germain- 
I'Auxerrois  stood  frankly  nude  according  to  the 
narrative.  The  bit  of  drapery,  now  hung  across 
the  arms,  which  may  pass  for  the  cloak  of  the 
abbe  Zozime,  was  probably  added  by  a  prudish 
hand  at  some  later  date  than  the  statue  itself. 

Though  scraped  of  its  rich  gilding  and  colour- 
ing, to  accord  with  the  modern  Mairie,  the  portico 
still  retains  something  of  the  warmth  of  its  former 
richness,  and  exhales  a  certain  delicate  glow.  In 
the  statue  of  the  Egyptian  are  strong  traces  of 
pigment,  while  the  little  motifs  of  the  ceiling  are 
full  of  colour,  and  the  doors  are  rich  in  gold  leaf. 

Three  doors  give  access  to  the  church;  those  at 
the  sides  are  of  XVth  century  make.  The  central 
one  belongs  to  the  first  half  of  the  Xlllth  cen- 
tury, and  is  therefore  earlier  than  the  portico 
itself.  During  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV  it  lost  its 
central  upright  figure,  a  statue  of  Christ,  and  the 
"  Last  Judgment  "  of  the  tympanum.  The  pier 
has  been  replaced  and  a  statue  of  the  Virgin,  of 
a  later  epoch  has  been  supplied.  The  sculpture  of 
the  tympanum  has  been  replaced  by  a  painting  on 
the  stone,  now  nearly  effaced. 

The  door  preserves,  however,  the  six  statues  of 
its  embrasure  and  the  three  historic  choirs  of  its 
archivolt.     The  study  of  Notre-Dame  makes  easy 


228  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

the  reading  of  the  story  of  this  portal,  and  one 
recognizes  in  the  figures  to  the  left  Saint- Vincent 
(the  second  patron  of  the  church),  a  bearded 
king,  presumably  Childebert,  and  a  queen,  proba- 
bly Ultrogothe — the  benefactors  of  the  original 
foundation;  to  the  right,  Saint-Germain  dAu- 
xerre,  in  bishop's  robes,  Sainte-Genevieve  with 
her  candle  and  the  traditional  demon  on  her  right 
shoulder  trying  to  extinguish  her  light,  and  beside 
her  an  angel,  smiling  securely  and  holding  an- 
other lighted  taper  ready  to  religlit  the  saint's 
candle,  should  the  demon  succeed. 

Each  figure  stands  upon  a  grotesque  support 
contrived  to  form  a  console.  Saint-Vincent 
makes  of  the  prefect  who  condemned  him  his 
footstool,  Childebert  treads  upon  a  griffon,  Ultro- 
gothe upon  a  devil;  while  upon  the  opposite  side 
we  see  a  stooping  man,  and  two  demons  of 
hideous  form. 

A  Gothic  inscription  of  the  XVth  or  XVIth 
century  once  named  the  king  and  queen,  but 
their  identity  seems  plain  enough  in  any  case 
from  the  connection  of  Childebert  and  his  consort 
with  the  original  edifice  and  from  the  resemblance 
which  the  figure  of  the  king  bears  to  the  statue 
of  Childebert  in  the  Louvre. 

In  the  archivolt  are  assembled  thirty  figures  in 


SAINT-GERMAIN-L'AUXERROIS     229 

an  excellent  state  of  preservation  relating  to  the 
Last  Judgment,  which,  as  in  the  central  door  of 
Notre-Dame,  made  the  theme  of  the  destroyed 
tympanum.  In  the  first  row  of  figin*es,  to  the 
left,  sits  Abraham,  between  two  trees,  holding 
upon  his  bosom,  as  it  were,  the  redeemed,  while 
upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  door  is  represented 
a  vivid  scene  of  Hell,  with  three  lost  souls,  two 
demons,  etc.  Six  angels,  their  eyes  turned  to- 
wards the  tympanum,  complete  the  first  row  of 
figures,  and  a  cherub,  with  wings,  makes  the 
centre.  The  wise  and  foolish  virgins  fill  the  sec- 
ond choir,  and,  lest  there  be  doubt  as  to  which  is 
which,  the  sculptor  has  veiled  the  hair  of  the 
former  with  scarfs  and  given  them  a  modest  air, 
their  lamps  upright  and  alight,  while  the  foolish 
virgins  are  coiffed  in  a  worldly  manner  and  carry 
their  lamps  upside  down.  At  the  point  of  the 
arch  two  hands  come  through  a  cloud  and  hold 
a  ribbon  which  floats  to  the  right  and  left  and 
still  bears  traces  of  lettering  nearly  effaced. 

The  twelve  apostles,  sitting  each  under  a  little 
dais  and  carrying  the  instruments  of  their  mar- 
tyrdom, form  the  third  row  over  this  door.  The 
heads  are  remarkable  in  nobility  and  expression. 
John  by  exception  holds  the  celestial  palm  and 
the  vase  from  which  the  dragon  issues. 


230  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Above  the  porch  the  fa9ade  is  pierced  by  a 
rose  window,  at  each  side  of  which  rises  a  small 
tower  of  elegant  design,  while  surmounting  all, 
upon  the  point  of  the  gable  end  of  the  nave,  is 
a  modern  angel,  by  Marochetti.  The  exterior  is 
rich  in  stone  carving  of  the  XVth  century — balus- 
trades, gables,  consoles,  gargoyles,  cornices  em- 
bellished with  leaves  and  flowers  and  little  gro- 
tesques of  men  and  beasts. 

The  buttresses  end  in  small  foliated  steeples, 
from  which  are  suspended  at  right  angles  the 
extraordinary  gargoyles  of  this  church — fantastic 
birds,  griffons,  monkeys,  wolves,  dogs,  bears,  etc. 
At  the  southwest  angle  a  showman  strikes  with  a 
ring  upon  a  tablet  and  makes  a  monkey  go 
through  his  paces;  further  down  a  savage,  armed 
with  a  club,  comes  grinning  out  of  the  mouth  of 
a  hippopotamus.  The  consoles  under  the  gar- 
goyles are  full  of  interest  and  reflect  the  lively 
imagination  of  the  time.  An  opera  glass  would 
not  be  amiss  for  the  study  and  thus  aided 
one  can  distinguish  a  world  of  symbolism — a 
beggar  with  his  dog,  a  fool,  a  sow  suckling  her 
family,  the  earth,  represented  as  a  globe,  eaten 
by  rats  which  escape  across  the  crevasses  while  a 
cat  watches  the  passage. 

Unfortunately  much  restoration  has  destroyed 


SAINT-GERMAIN-L'AUXERROIS     231 

a  great  deal  and  only  a  few  of  the  numerous 
gargoyles  remain. 

The  belfry  rises  from  the  right-hand  side,  at 
the  southeast  angle  of  the  cross,  where  the  choir 
joins  the  transept.  That  it  l)elongs  to  the  Xlltli 
century,  before  the  development  of  Gothic  archi- 
tecture, is  j3lain  from  the  full  arch  of  the  bays, 
the  cornices  with  modillons,  the  little  square  pil- 
lars, the  imposts  of  the  Roman  style.  The  balus- 
trade is  modern,  for  the  XVIIIth  century 
decapitated  the  tower,  suppressed  its  high  snire 
of  stone  and  its  four  little  steeples. 

Inside,  despite  many  changes,  the  effect  of  this 
old  church  is  impressive  and  beautiful.  Of  its 
rich  original  ornamentation  the  nave  retains  only 
a  few  escutcheons,  handsomely  carved  and  lock- 
ing the  intersections  of  the  ribs  of  the  vaulting. 
Seated  in  the  nave  with  the  head  turned  to  the 
roof  one  can  make  out  clearly  the  figures  of 
Saint  Vincent,  one  of  the  patrons  of  the  church. 
Saint  John,  Saint  Landry,  and  Saint  Christopher. 
The  most  elaborate  is  that  of  Saint-Germain  in 
episcopal  robes,  painted  and  gilded  against  a  rose 
in  stone,  in  the  Chapel  to  the  Virgin,  on  the  right- 
hand  side  of  the  iiave. 

This  chapel  occupies  the  entire  space  opening 
from  the  south  aisle  and  constitutes  a   complete 


232  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

little  church  in  itself,  with  stalls,  organ,  pulpit, 
a  cloister  in  carved  wood,  and  an  altar  rich  in 
bas-reliefs.  Upon  the  reredos  is  a  richly  carved 
tree  of  Jesse,  full  of  royal  figures,  and  in  the 
centre  a  XlVth  century  Virgin,  of  painted  stone, 
brought  from  a  church  in  Champagne. 

Such  windows  of  value  as  Saint-Germain  pre- 
serves of  its  former  plenitude  date  from  the 
XVth  and  XVIth  centuries.  These  are  the  two 
roses  to  the  north  and  south  and  six  windows  of 
the  transept.  Smaller  and  later  than  those  of 
Notre-Dame,  they  are  interesting  for  the  beautiful 
shapes  of  the  spaces  into  which  the  stonework 
of  their  construction  divides  them.  The  colour- 
ing is  much  less  brilliant  than  that  of  earlier  glass, 
but  is  soft  and  harmonious;  the  effect  here  is, 
unfortunately,  greatly  diminished  by  the  glare  in 
this  church  caused  by  the  suppression  of  the  win- 
dows of  the  clerestory  of  the  nave  (destroyed 
about  1728).  When  the  whole  church  was 
lighted  by  windows  similar  to  those  of  the 
transept  the  effect  must  have  been  very  beautiful. 

In  the  north  rose  the  subject  begins  to  de- 
velop from  the  centre,  where  is  placed  the 
Eternal  Father  in  the  costume  of  a  pope. 
Around  hiin  are  several  circles  of  angels,  cherubs, 


SAINT-GERMAIN-L'AUXERROIS     233 

martyrs,  and  confessors.  Amongst  the  martyrs 
are  Saint- Vincent,  Sainte-Agnes,  Sainte-Mar- 
guerite,  Sainte-Catherine,  and  Sainte-Marthe; 
amongst  the  confessors,  Saint-Germain  d'Auxerre 
and  Saint-Louis. 

The  south  rose,  especially  admirahle  for  its 
effect  of  light  and  colour,  develojDS  the  subject 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  in  the  form  of  a  dove 
descends  from  the  top  compartment,  from  a  sky 
filled  with  rays  of  glory.  The  Virgin  and  the 
apostles  receive  the  first  effusion  of  grace  and 
light,  which  in  diminishing  brilliancy  and  increas- 
ing depth  of  shadow  extends  to  a  numerous  choir 
of  disciples  and  saints. 

The  side  windows  of  the  north  and  south 
transept  belong  to  the  XVIth  century  and  show 
even  more  than  the  roses  the  growth  of  the  art 
from  the  strict  conventionality  of  early  Gothic  to 
the  vivacity  and  picturesque  costume  of  the 
Renaissance.  All  these  windows  were  taken  out 
during  the  war  and  are  only  now,  little  by  little, 
being  returned  to  their  places. 

The  choir  was  enclosed  until  1744  by  a  splendid 
rood-loft  designed  by  Pierre  Lescot  and  sculp- 
tured bv  Jean  Gouion,  the  celebrated  architect 
and  sculptor  of  the  Renaissance  portions   of  the 


234  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Louvre.  This  was  taken  out  by  the  church  war- 
dens and  curates  under  the  pretext  of  opening  the 
sanctuary  to  the  view  of  the  faithful. 

The  Entombment  and  Four  Evangehsts,  bas- 
reliefs  in  stone,  are  preserved  amongst  the  treas- 
ures of  the  Renaissance  sculpture  in  the  Louvre. 

This  lamentable  bit  of  ecclesiastic  vandalism 
was  perpetrated  upon  the  suppression  of  the 
chapter.  The  new  administration  was  not  satis- 
fied with  the  mere  opening  of  the  choir,  they 
wished  to  improve  the  view  thus  presented  by 
the  creation  of  a  modern  choir,  purified  so  far 
as  was  possible  of  the  barbarous  Gothic. 

The  actual  plan  of  the  disfigurement  which  one 
now  sees  was  made  by  an  architect  called  Bacarit. 
Under  his  direction  the  solid  old  columns  of  the 
choir  were  fluted,  their  leafy  capitals  transformed 
into  garlands,  while  above  the  pointed  arches  was 
traced  a  stupid  pattern  in  the  stone.  Only  the 
vaultings,  which  could  not  be  touched  without 
weakening  the  construction,  were  spared,  and  in 
these  may  still  be  read  the  real  date  of  the  choir 
and  apse,  written  large  in  the  general  form. 

Saint-Germain  was  once  rich  in  XVIth  and 
XVIIth  century  tombs.  The  Louvre  sent  it 
many  illustrious  dead — officers  of  the  royal  house 
and  artists  whom  kings  had  housed  in  the  palace. 


SAINT-GERMAIN-L'AUXERROIS     235 

Besides  chevaliers  of  orders,  chancellors,  gentle- 
men, secretaries  of  state,  reposed  the  remains  of 
the  poet  Malherbe,  the  savant  Andre  Dacier,  the 
painters  Coypel,  Houasse,  Stella,  and  Santerre; 
and  the  sculj^tors  Sarazin',  Desjardins,  and 
Coyzevox. 

Vaults  hollowed  out  under  the  nave  for  the 
burial  of  ordinary  parishioners  still  exist.  There 
the  bones  are  ranged  with  symmetry  like  a  charnel 
house. 

One  cannot  do  better  than  to  yield  to  the  im- 
portunities of  the  sacristan,  who  is  ever  ready  to 
show  with  care  and  intelligence  the  treasures  of 
this  church.  It  is  he  who  will  unlock  for  visitors 
the  beautiful  chapel  to  the  Virgin,  who  will  con- 
duct one  to  a  little  room  built  over  the  porch, 
to  the  right  hand  of  the  entrance,  once  dedicated 
to  the  archives  and  treasures  of  the  chapter. 
There  were  two  such  rooms,  to  the  left  and  right, 
and  this  one  is  still  intact,  with  its  old  flooring, 
its  carved  wood  wardrobes  with  iron  hinges,  and 
its  old  furniture.  Amongst  other  things  the  room 
contains  a  triptych  of  the  XVIth  century  carved 
and  painted  with  the  history  of  the  Original  Sin 
and  the  legend  of  the  Virgin. 

The  pulpit  and  stalls  have  survived  the  Revo- 
lution;   and    the    state    seat    of    royalty,    built    in 


236  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

1684,  from  designs  by  Lebrun,  by  Fran9ois 
Mercier,  still  occupies  an  important  place  in  the 
nave.  The  grill  of  the  enclosure  of  the  choir  in 
polished  iron  with  bronze  ornaments  is  classed 
amongst  the  finest  wrought  iron  work  of  the 
XVII Ith  century. 

The  sacristan  delights  also  in  conducting 
visitors  up  the  perilous  ladders  into  the  belfry, 
from  which  was  rung  the  signal  for  the  Massacre 
of  Saint-Bartholomew,  and  to  induce  the  unwary 
to  ring  the  great  bell  at  mid-day.  This  man  is 
one  of  those  rare  creatures  who  knows  his  subject 
and  loves  it.  I  had  a  long  talk  with  him  one 
day  soon  after  the  declaration  of  the  armistice 
when  he  had  freshly  returned  from  the  trenches. 
He  had  "  made  all  the  front  "  he  told  me  and 
returned  unscratched,  and  to  see  him  going  peace- 
fully about  his  church  duties  one  could  scarcely 
figure  him  as  an  instrument  in  the  recent  calam- 
ity. He  enticed  me  readily  to  the  tower;  we 
mounted  stone  stairways  succeeded  by  delicately 
balanced  ladders  which  bent  beneath  our  weight 
like  straws,  and  finally  landed  upon  a  platform 
of  rough  boards,  which  formed  little  more  than 
a  ledge  around  the  stone  sides,  while  the  middle 
yawned  open  above  unfathomed  depths. 

The  little  man  stepped  about  with  the  agility 


SAINT-GERMAIN-L'AUXERROIS     237 

of  a  cat,  urging  upon  me  one  folly  after  another 
until  the  thought  struck  me  with  force  that  he 
might  readily  have  a  touch  of  insanity  as  a  result 
of  his  years  of  horror  at  the  front,  and  I  was 
seized  with  something  of  the  panic  which  Henri 
IV  experienced  when  he  mounted  the  tower  of 
Saint-Germain-des-Pres,  accompanied  hy  a  single 
monk,  to  reconnoitre  during  the  siege  of  Paris  in 
1589.  I  too  was  afraid  the  temptation  to  fling 
me  down  that  abyss  might  2)rove  too  strong,  but 
it  was  a  mean  thought,  for  the  little  sacristan  was 
all  kindness  and  jollity.  We  descended  from  the 
vertiginous  scaffolding  to  the  solid  planks  of  the 
belfry  in  time  to  ring  the  angelus,  and  I  shall 
never  forget  the  little  fellow  clinging  to  the  rope 
and  letting  the  bell  carry  hhn  high  into  space  for 
my  amusement,  smiling  gleefully  the  while  like 
a  merry  gnome.  He  made  me  take  hold  when  he 
had  the  l)ell  well  started  and  I  scorched  my  hands 
with  the  ropes.  Feeling  that  I  had  done  some- 
thing exceptional  I  asked  him  if  many  ladies  had 
made  the  trip  to  the  extreme  top,  and,  smiling 
with  extraordinary  glee,  he  said  promptly:  "Ah 
out,  Madame,  syrtout  les  Americai7ies." 

During  the  upheavals  of  1831  this  church  was 
robbed  and  pillaged  by  the  mob.  For  six  years 
after   this    the    building   was    closed    for    worship 


238  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

and  its  sacristy  and  presbytery  used  as  a  mairie. 
Its  demolition  was  decided  upon  in  order  to  make 
a  street  from  the  Louvre  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville, 
but  the  eloquence  of  Chateaubriand  prevailed  and 
the  authorities  were  persuaded  to  spare  "  un  des 
plus  anciens  rnonuinents  de  Paris,  et  d'une  cpoque 
dont  it  ne  reste  presque  plus  rien/" 


CHAPTER  XI 
TRANSITION  CHURCHES 

At  this  point  Paris  presents  a  choice  bouquet 
of  quaint  and  ancient  churches  of  the  transition 
and  Gothic  periods.  Full  of  points  of  resem- 
blance to  those  greater  examples,  already  dealt 
with  at  length,  they  corroborate  and  amplify  the 
subject,  grow  in  interest  with  each  visit,  invite 
familiaritj"  and  comparison.  Completely  at  vari- 
ance, for  the  most  part,  with  their  restored  and 
regenerated  environments,  they  present  in  each 
instance  the  vivid  keynote  of  that  Paris  of  which 
they  once  formed  the  chief  ornaments,  of  that 
lie  de  France  of  which  they  were  the  perfect 
flowers.  Bereft  of  all  their  contemporaries,  they 
stand  about  Paris  in  the  thick  of  modern  traffic, 
or  in  odd  by-ways,  always  a  bit  in  the  way,  con- 
spicuous like  old  folk  in  the  costume  of  by-gone 
days,  eloquent  in  a  speech  that  has  ceased  to  be 
current,  full  of  a  quaint  dignity,  warm  and  simple 
of  approach. 

They  are  scattered  wide  about  the  city — Saint- 
Julien-le-Pauvre   and   Saint-Severin,   on   the   rive 

23!) 


240  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

gauche,  not  far  from  the  cathedral;  Saint-Martin- 
des-Champs,  Saint-Nicolus-des-Champs,  and  Saint- 
Merri,  on  the  rive  droit e  in  the  old  Rue  Saint- 
Martin,  one  of  the  earliest  routes  leaving 
Paris  hy  its  northern  gate;  the  Sainte-Chapelle, 
in  the  ile  de  la  Cite  itself,  forming  part  of  the 
palace  of  Louis  IX;  Saint-Medard,  far  away  in 
the  southeastern  section  behind  Val-de-Grace; 
Saint-Pierre-de-Montmartre,  on  the  hill  of  the 
martyrs  for  which  it  is  named,  the  last  vestige  of 
a  once  powerful  monastery;  and  Saint-Germain- 
de-Charonne,  near  the  fortifications  behind  Pere 
Lachaise. 

These  old  churches  lend  themselves  to  leisurely 
investigation,  to  frequent,  casual  droppings  in. 
To  pass  one  by  for  whatever  reason  of  haste  or 
preoccupation  seems  an  unpardonable  omission, 
an  unintelligent  discourtesy.  They  are  rich  in  an 
atmosphere  of  sincerity,  of  faith,  of  nobility,  of 
art.  Inspiring  in  their  ensemble  they  are  full  of 
endless  detail,  are  eloquent  in  response  to  sym- 
pathetic interest.  Very  often  too  the  sacristan, 
busy  and  austere  as  he  seems  in  pursuit  of  dust 
and  disorder,  bustling  about  the  chapels  with  so 
forbidding  an  air,  is  a  most  human  creature  de- 
manding only  a  little  intelligent  interest  to  draw 


TRANSITION  CHURCHES         241 

out  a  fund  of  more  or  less  reliable  information 
and  unlooked-for  privileges. 

The  charm  of  these  sanctuaries  is  subtle  rather 
than  obvious,  and  it  is  only  as  one  gets  to  know 
them  well  that  their  full  value  develops.  The 
Sainte-Chapelle  is,  of  course,  so  perfect  a  gem  of 
its  period  and  so  admirably  restored  that  it  reveals 
itself  at  once  as  a  masterpiece.  Saint-Severin, 
too,  though  much  despoiled  by  modernization  and 
incautious  restoration,  still  holds  sufficiently  to  its 
original  character  to  announce  itself  as  of  no  un- 
common merit.  Its  windows  alone  would  arrest 
the  attention  of  the  most  casual  of  loiterers.  But 
the  humbler,  fragmentary  churches  must  be 
known  well  like  shy  people  before  their  real  worth 
becomes  apparent. 

To  touch  the  very  heart  of  the  matter  let  us 
return  to  that  ancient  ruelle,  leading  from  the 
Rue  Galande,  at  whose  corner  we  have  enjoyed  so 
admirable  a  view  of  Notre-Dame;  and  passing 
through  the  old  wooden  gateway  into  the  shabby 
court,  protected  by  a  fragment  of  the  wall  of 
Philippe  Auguste,  enter  the  tiny  church  of  Saint- 
Julien-le-Pauvre. 

What  we  see  is  a  strange  abbreviation  of  a 
church    contemporary    with    the    cathedral    aiu] 


242  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

probably  finished  first.  All  that  is  authentic 
therein  dates  from  the  second  half  of  the  Xllth 
century,  at  the  moment  when  Roman  architecture 
ceded  to  Gothic.  It  was  built  by  the  monks  of 
Sainte-Marie-de-Longpont  and  next  to  it  was  a 
priory  of  fifty  monks.  The  site  v/as  that  of  a 
basilica  of  the  Ilird  century. 

Saint-Julien  martyr  was  the  first  patron,  and 
afterwards  the  church  came  also  under  the  pro- 
tection of  a  second  Saint-Julien,  the  bishop  of 
Le  Mans,  called  le  Pauvre  because  of  his  great 
charity  which  led  him  to  give  to  the  poor  all  that 
he  possessed.  To  these  was  added  a  third  Julien, 
he  who  in  expiation  for  an  accidental  crime  had 
established  a  hospital  on  the  banks  of  a  river 
where  the  crossing  was  ^^t^rilous,  and  where,  ac- 
companied by  his  devoted  wife,  he  not  only  cared 
for  travellers  who  suffered  from  exposure  and 
cold,  but  served  as  ferryman,  carrying  in  his  bark 
all  who  wished  to  cross  from  one  bank  to  the 
other. 

Once  upon  a  freezing  night  in  winter  when 
Julien,  worn  out  with  his  labours,  was  asleep  in 
his  bed,  he  was  awakened  by  the  plaintive  voice  of 
a  stranger  asking  to  be  ferried  across  the  river. 
Rising  instantly  and  perceiving  that  the  stranger 
was  a  leper,  half  dead  with  the  cold,  he  brought 


TRANSITION  CHURCHES  243 

him  into  his  house  and  lit  a  great  fire  to  warm 
him,  carrying  him  finally  to  his  own  bed  and 
covering  him  with  care.  Upon  this  last  proof  of 
humility  and  devotion  the  leper  transformed  him- 
self into  an  angel  shining  with  light,  and  an- 
nounced to  Julien  that  he  and  his  wife  were  par- 
doned of  God. 

Of  these  patrons  it  is  the  bishop  of  Le  Mans 
who  survives  the  tradition,  though  in  the  ancient 
legends  the  stories  are  confounded  one  with  another. 

The  church  was  brilliant  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
Under  its  roof  were  held  the  general  assemblies  of 
the  University  of  Paris,  while  the  bell,  still  hang- 
ing in  the  little  tower  to  the  right,  as  the  sacristan 
loves  to  tell,  roused  from  slumber  the  whole  of 
the  Latin  Quarter. 

In  1651  the  ancient  portail  with  its  columns, 
capitals,  and  statues  was  destroyed  and  the  first 
two  bays  of  the  nave  were  suppressed,  while  the 
tower  was  thrown  down  to  its  base.  The  frag- 
ment of  the  nave  was  closed  at  this  time  by  the 
present  Greek  facade,  which  has  stood  for  up- 
wards of  three  centuries. 

The  Revolution  menaced  the  remains  and  the 
church  only  escaped  demolition  by  being  seized 
upon  to  serve  as  chapel  for  the  Hbtel-Dieu,  which 
stood  close  beside  it. 


244  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

The  nave  is  so  changed  as  to  have  lost  most 
of  its  archaeological  interest,  but  the  remainder 
of  the  church  preserves  its  ancient  character,  its 
primitive  arrangement.  One  enters  through  the 
unrelated  Greek  portal  into  an  interior  which  at 
first  seems  crude  and  barren,  with  a  simplicity 
touching  upon  poverty  in  keeping  with  the  name 
of  the  church.  To  realize  at  once  how  the  front 
end  of  the  nave  has  been  cut  off,  one  has  but  to 
turn  and  see  imbedded  in  the  entrance  wall  the 
remains  of  two  large  capitals  carved  with  the 
grape-vine,  which  must  have  belonged  to  the 
demolished  pillars.  The  capitals  of  the  small 
engaged  columns  against  the  walls  of  the  aisles 
escaped  destruction  and  are  handsomely  carved 
with  water-lily  and  fern  designs.  The  two  middle 
columns  of  the  nave  are  wholly  modern,  but  the 
other  four  are  Tuscan,  remade  in  the  XVIIth 
century. 

The  sanctuary  is  simple  and  severe,  showing 
the  Gothic  at  its  birth  detaching  itself  from  the 
Roman.  The  ornamentation  is  that  of  the  first 
period  of  Gothic  and  presents  the  flora  of  the 
Xllth  century  in  the  carving  of  the  capitals  of 
the  columns  in  which  we  find  the  arum,  the  water- 
lily,  the  fern,  and  the  grape-vine  carved  with 
force  and  energy;  the   water-lily   form   predomi- 


TRANSITION  CHURCHES  245 

nates  and,  magnificently  treated,  its  motifs  recall 
those  of  Notre-Dame,  verifying  the  assumption 
that  the  same  sculptors  worked  upon  the  two 
churches. 

The  two  large  capitals  of  the  pillars  of  the 
choir  are  the  chef-d'oeuvres  of  this  church.  The 
column  to  the  right  shows  the  acanthus  leaf  form- 
ing square  capitals  in  whose  four  angles  are  fig- 
ures of  harpies  with  women's  heads,  feathered 
bodies,  spread  wings,  and  paws  armed  with  claws. 
The  capital  of  the  left-hand  column  is  also  dec- 
orated with  the  acanthus  leaf,  without  figures,  but 
of  a  bigness  of  composition  truly  remarkable. 

The  sacristy  contains  an  archaic  little  statue  of 
Charlemagne,  in  terra  cotta,  attributed  to  the 
Xlth  century  and  supposed  to  have  belonged  to 
the  earlier  church  erected  on  this  site.  It  was 
found  in  the  soil  under  the  paving  during  com- 
paratively recent  excavations. 

The  whole  of  this  quarter  between  the  near-by 
quay  and  the  Boulevard  Saint-Germain  is  honey- 
combed with  small  old-world  streets,  densely 
populated  and  inviting  casual  rambles.  The  Rue 
Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre  leads  directly  back  to  that 
larger,  more  important  church,  Saint-Severin,  but 
it  is  more  amusing  and  more  refreshing,  if  one  will 
see  the  two  churches  in  one  morning,  to  return  by 


246  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

a  round-about  way  along  the  quays,  turning  in 
again  by  what  has  been  described  as  a  mere  crack 
in  the  houses  along  the  Seine,  the  Rue  du  Chat- 
qui-Peche,  famous  for  its  antiquity  and  named 
for  an  ancient  sign,  long  since  disappeared.  By 
this  narrow  thoroughfare  one  comes  upon  the  pic- 
turesque old  Rue  Zacharie,  which  terminates  in  the 
Rue  Saint-Severin,  and  from  this  junction  one  gets 
perhaps  the  most  delightful  first  view  of  the 
church  itself  with  its  fine  tower,  its  gargoyles,  and 
other  picturesque  features. 

Sahit-Severm 

The  origin  of  Saint-Severin  is  obscure.  The 
supposition  is  that  it  existed  first  as  an  oratory 
built  in  honour  of  a  pious  "  solitaire,"  who  lived  in 
Paris  in  the  time  of  Childebert  I  and  who  took 
Clodoald  (Saint-Cloud),  at  the  time  that  he  es- 
caped murder  at  the  hands  of  his  uncles,  as  a 
disciple.  It  has  been  thought  that  this  oratory 
was  consecrated  by  Saint-Cloud  himself  in  mem- 
ory of  his  master.  Other  authors  think  that  the 
church  was  called  for  the  abbot  of  Agaune. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  the  oratory  on  the  site  of 
the  hermitage,  having  been  sacked  by  the  Nor- 
mans,  was   rebuilt   in  the  Xlth   century   as   the 


TRANSITION  CHURCHES  247 

"  Ecclesia  Sancti  Severi  Solitarii,"  and  became 
the  chief  church  of  an  immense  parish,  comprising 
nearly  all  of  the  southern  part  of  Paris. 

In  its  actual  state  it  dates  from  the  XII Ith 
century.  The  clochcr,  a  square  tower,  rises  from 
the  northwest  angle;  the  elegance  of  its  long, 
pointed  bays,  with  their  pretty  little  columns  at 
the  embrasures,  and  the  fineness  of  the  workman- 
ship indicate  the  middle  of  the  Xlllth  century. 
The  tower  terminates  in  a  sharp  steeple  decorated 
with  dormer  windows,  capped  with  a  lanthorn, 
whose  point  can  be  seen  all  along  the  quays. 

The  main  entrance,  now  usually  closed,  is  under 
the  tower,  and  opens  from  the  Rue  Saint-Severin. 
It  has  a  good  porch  with  columns,  under  which 
are  still  vestiges  of  an  inscription,  in  small  Gothic 
letters  of  the  XII Ith  century,  while  to  the  right 
and  left,  let  into  the  walls,  are  two  reliefs  of 
lions,  small  and  extremely  ornamental. 

In  the  tympanum  is  a  wretched  relief  replacing 
the  contemporary  destroyed  panel,  representing 
Saint-Martin  sharing  his  coat  with  the  beggar. 
The  church  possessed  a  piece  of  this  glorious  vest- 
ment and  had  also  a  chapel  dedicated  to  the 
charitable  bishop  of  Tours,  venerated  as  one  of  the 
chief    patrons    of    the    parish.      Saint-Martin    is 


248  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

calways  represented  mounted  on  horseback  and 
travellers  took  him  for  their  protector;  when  set- 
ting out  upon  voyages  or  upon  their  return  it 
was  customary  to  come  to  Saint-Severin  and  at- 
tach a  horse-shoe  to  his  image,  and  the  door,  under 
the  image,  used  to  be  completely  covered  with 
them.  When  the  voyage  was  likely  to  be  long  or 
hazardous  the  rider  frequently  branded  his  horse's 
hoof  with  the  key  of  the  church  door. 

The  west  door  is  interesting  as  conserving  the 
ancient  portal  from  the  destroyed  church  of  Saint- 
Pierre-aux-Boeufs,  brought  here  in  1837.  It 
dates  chiefly  from  the  early  XII Ith  century,  ex- 
cept for  its  modern  tympanum.  The  oak  panels 
of  the  door  itself,  ornamented  with  medallions  of 
Saint  Peter  and  Saint  Paul,  is  XVIIth  century. 

Within,  despite  many  changes,  the  church  is  ex- 
ceedingly curious  and  interesting  still.  The 
visitor  is  at  once  struck  by  the  series  of  handsome 
XVth  and  XV Ith  century  windows,  which,  to  the 
number  of  fifteen,  make  the  unbroken  series  from 
the  fourth  bay  of  the  nave  in  the  clerestory. 
These  were  all  dismounted  during  the  war  and  at 
the  moment  are  in  process  of  being  put  back. 
Restoration  suppressed  some  of  the  backgrounds 
and  borders  to  gain  light  in  the  church,  but  the 
windows  retain  their  beautiful  shape  and  are  em- 


TRANSITION  CHURCHES         249 

bellished  with  coats  of  arms  and  figures  of  their 
donors. 

The  church  is  curious  in  that  it  has  no  transept. 
Its  shape  is  that  of  a  long  parallelogram,  termi- 
nating in  a  circular  apse.  Like  Saint-Germain- 
I'Auxerrois,  Saint-Severin  once  had  a  rood-loft, 
erected  in  1414  by  a  bequest  of  Antoine  de  Com- 
paigne  and  his  wife  Oudette.  It  was  destroyed 
to  open  the  sanctuary  to  the  view  of  the  faithful 
in  the  latter  half  of  the  XVI Ith  century,  at  which 
time  the  church  received  also  the  modern  decora- 
tion which  disfigures  the  spaces  over  the  pointed 
arches  of  the  nave. 

The  double  ambulatory  adds  greatly  to  the  pic- 
turesque aspect  of  this  old  church,  and  is  inter- 
esting for  its  groined  vaulting,  whose  complica- 
tions appear  to  proceed,  in  a  manner,  from  a 
curious  twisted  pillar  in  the  centre  of  the  apse 
behind  the  high  altar.  The  second  aisle  on  the 
right  is  the  earliest;  it  dates  from  the  XlVth 
century,  and  contains  many  beautiful  carved 
escutcheons,  and  Gothic  consoles. 

In  the  chapel  dedicated  to  Saint-Jean-l'Evan- 
geliste  are  some  early  decorations  by  Hippolyte 
Flandrin,  done  in  1839.  These  consist  of  four 
compositions  full  of  charm  and  religious  senti- 
ment.   The  subjects:    "  The  Calling  of  the  Apos- 


250  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

ties,"  "  The  Last  Supper,"  "  The  Martyrdom  of 
Saint  John,"  and  "  Saint  John  Writing  the 
Apocalypse." 

Many  other  souvenirs  attach  to  this  old  church. 
At  Pentecost  a  flight  of  pigeons  used  to  be  sent 
down  during  mass  through  holes  in  the  vaulting 
to  typify  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Be- 
tween the  lions  of  the  north  porch  the  magis- 
trates of  the  town  administered  justice.  In  the 
churchyard  of  Saint- Severin  the  first  operation 
for  gall-stone  was  performed  in  public,  in  Janu- 
ary, 1474.  The  patient  was  a  soldier,  condemned 
to  be  hung  for  theft,  and  upon  the  success  of  the 
operation  he  was  pardoned  and  rewarded. 

Samt-Pierre-de-Montmartre 

Leaving  the  ile  de  la  Cite  by  the  Grand  Pont, 
from  earliest  times  ran  a  road  irregularly  towards 
the  north,  leading  to  the  Butte  Montmartre  and 
the  Chapel  of  the  Martyrs,  called  the  Chemin  de 
Montmartre.  The  Halles  Centrales  now  partly 
cover  its  ancient  bed,  but  from  the  Place  du 
Chatelet,  the  Rue  des  Halles  to  the  centre  of  that 
vast  market,  then  across  its  width  to  the  rear  of 
Saint-Eustache,  one  finds  again  the  old  thorough- 
fare under  its  ancient  name,  and  mounting  that 
street  to  its  end,  before  Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, 


TRAXSITION  CHURCHES  251 

a  deviation  to  the  right  will  lead  up  the  steep  Rue 
des  Martyrs,  from  whose  termination  a  choice  of 
means  of  ascent  presents  itself  for  the  final  stage 
of  a  pilgrimage  to  that  famous  hill  which  over- 
looks the  whole  of  Paris. 

The  great,  dazzling  basilica  of  the  Sacre  Coeur, 
which  now  caps  the  mountain  with  its  ostentatious 
piety,  throws  the  picturesque  village  of  that  primi- 
tive Paris,  so  fast  disappearing,  completely  out 
of  scale.  It  is  only  by  a  direct  effort  of  will  that 
one  can  disregard  the  sense  of  its  impending  near- 
ness, of  its  oppressive  insistence  as  tlie  thing  to 
be  seen  on  the  historic  hill.  From  the  horrid 
funicular  which  hauls  the  unimaginative  up  a 
final  stretch  of  perpendicularity  which  the  pious 
ancients  took  upon  their  knees,  to  the  indis- 
criminate hawkers  of  secular  and  religious 
souvenirs  and  emblems,  with  which  the  environ- 
ment of  the  whole  irrelevant,  theatrical  mass  is 
literally  infested,  the  utmost  has  been  done  to 
deprive  the  sacred  site  of  its  legitimate  interest. 

That  legitimate  interest  one  takes  to  be  pri- 
marily the  fact  of  the  martyrdom,  upon  this  hill, 
some  sundry  centuries  ago,  of  the  first  apostle  of 
the  Gauls,  that  same  Saint-Denis  who,  sent  from 
Rome  in  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  Era,  con- 
verted the  Parisii,  and  was  put  to  death  by  order 


252  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

of  the  Roman  governor.  The  epoch  of  Saint- 
Denis  is  uncertain,  but  the  tradition  which  indi- 
cates the  summit  of  Montmartre  as  the  place 
of  his  death  and  which  places  his  tomb  where 
is  now  the  city  of  Saint-Denis  has  never  been  con- 
tested. 

"  After  being  decapitated,"  says  Hilduin,  the 
abbot  of  Saint-Denis,  writing  only  four  or  five 
centuries  after  the  event  and  with  the  conviction 
of  an  eyewitness,  "  the  saint  rose  up  on  his  feet, 
took  his  head  in  his  hands,  and  walked  about  a 
league  while  angels  sang  about  him,  '  Gloria  tibi 
Domine  '  and  others  responded  three  times,  '  Alle- 
luia.' Finally  he  arrived  thus  at  the  sj)ot  where 
now  stands  his  church." 

Thus  the  name,  Mons  Martis — Mons  Mar- 
tyrmn,  is  in  memory  of  the  martyrdom  of  the 
first  bishop  of  Paris  and  of  his  two  companions, 
Rustique  and  Eleuthere,  whose  heads,  according 
to  the  tradition,  were  cut  off  upon  this  hill.  From 
time  immemorial  three  streets  of  the  summit  of 
Montmartre  recorded  the  names  of  the  three 
martyrs.  The  Rue  Saint-Eleuthere  holding  with- 
in its  curve  the  remains  of  the  old  abbey,  which 
once  dominated  the  hill,  still  retains  the  name 
of  the  deacon  who  accompanied  the  apostle,  and 
a  narrow  old  street  on  the  other  side  of  the 
place  before  the  ancient  church  of  Saint-Pierre 


TRANSITION  CHURCHES  253 

still  bears  the  inscription,  "Rue  Rustique";  but 
a  negligence  all  too  regrettable  has  allowed  to 
lapse  the  name  of  the  principal  figure  of  the 
legend  and  the  centuries-old  Rue  Saint-Denis  is 
lost  in  the  modern  Rue  Mont-Cenis,  which  follows 
the  way  that,  carrying  his  head  in  his  hand,  the 
saint  took  down  tlie  northern  slope  of  the  hill, 
towards  the  stopping  place  upon  the  plain  beyond 
which  was  to  become  his  sepulchre.  Rue  de  la 
Procession,  without  the  present  walls  of  the  city, 
covers  the  route  of  that  extraordinary  march, 
anciently  marked  bv  stations  of  the  cross. 

Two  edifices  of  which  we  have  but  vague  in- 
formation preceded  the  present  church  Saint- 
Pierre-de-Montmartre.  The  existing  chapel,  re- 
stored from  a  state  of  general  decay,  but  still 
preserving  an  authentic  air  of  antiquity,  dates 
from  1163,  wlien  Louis  le  Gros  and  his  queen,  Alix 
of  Savoie,  iiaving  established  at  INIontmartre  the 
nuns  of  the  order  of  Saint-Benoit,  commenced  its 
construction.  In  1147  tlie  church  was  conse- 
crated by  Pope  Eugenius  III,  who  was  in  Paris 
to  celebrate  Easter  at  Saint-Denis,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  Samt-Bernard,  abbot  of  Clairvaux,  and 
Pierre  le  Venerable,  abbot  of  Cluny. 

The  church  served  as  chapel  to  the  royal  Bene- 
dictine convent — royal  because  its  abbesses  were 
appointed    by    the    king.      Amongst    the    famous 


254  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

women  who  became  abbesses  of  the  convent  were 
Marie  de  Beauvilhers,  the  nun  carried  off  by 
Henri  IV,  described  in  the  Amour  Philosophe, 
and  Marguerite-Louise  d'Orleans,  grand-duchess 
of  Tuscany,  took  up  her  abode  here  after  her 
separation  from  her  husband,  Cosimo  III,  in  1675. 

Queen  Alix  was  buried  in  the  church,  but  her 
tomb  was  destroyed  in  the  Revolution.  There 
exists,  however,  a  good  Xllth  century  tomb  of 
an  abbess  with  her  effigy  engraved  upon  the 
stone. 

Louis  XIV  rebuilt  the  abbey,  and  from  this 
later  construction  is  preserved,  in  the  garden,  a 
Calvary  with  a  Holy  Sepulchre  containing  a  figure 
of  Christ  at  the  tomb. 

Lamartine,  in  his  Histoire  des  Girondins,  de- 
scribes the  tragic  fate  of  this  convent  during  the 
Reign  of  Terror,  when  it  was  suppressed  and  its 
inmates  guillotined.  The  abbess  at  the  time  was 
Madame  de  Montmorency,  the  nuns  included 
young  girls  and  elderly  women  with  white  hair, 
"  whose  sole  crimes  were  the  will  of  their  parents 
and  the  fidelity  of  their  vows."  Grouped  about 
their  abbess  in  the  charrette  as  it  rattled  along 
through  the  thronged  streets  of  Paris  towards  the 
scaffold,  they  sang  continuously  the  sacred  chants 
of   their   faith,    chanting   "  to   the   last   voice   the 


TRANSITION  CHURCHES         255 

hymn  of  their  martyrdom.  Their  voices  troubled 
the  hearts  of  the  mob,  and  the  extinction  of  such 
combined  youth,  beauty,  and  religion  forced  the 
people  to  turn  away  their  eyes." 

The  interior  of  the  little  church  is  of  a  primitive 
severity.  One  fancies  one's  self  far  from  Paris, 
in  some  tiny  province,  as  rounding  the  Rue  Saint- 
Eleuthere  into  the  ancient  Rue  Saint-Denis,  and 
crossing  the  desolate  little  place  before  the 
church  one  enters  through  its  modest  portal.  Ruin 
and  restoration  have  left  many  fragments  of  the 
original  stone  carving,  and  a  few  intensely  inter- 
esting archaeological  souvenirs. 

Against  the  wall  of  the  facade,  inside,  are  two 
pillars  formed  of  three  columns  each.  The  prin- 
cipal column  of  each  group  is  of  black  and  white 
marble  from  Aquitania,  wnth  capitals  in  white 
marble  carved  with  the  acanthus  leaf.  For  a  long 
time  these  two  columns  were  thought  to  be  re- 
mains from  a  pagan  temple  built  on  the  hill  in 
honour  of  Mars  or  Mercury,  but  modern  archa- 
ologists  ^  attribute  them  to  Christian  origin  and 
think  that  they  date  from  a  Merovingien  edifice 
raised  on  the  summit  of  Montmartre.  A  primi- 
tive cross  carved  on  the  volute  of  one  of  the  leaves 
seems  to  justify  this  theory. 

'  Notably  Albert  Lenoir. 


256  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

The  church  is  composed  of  a  nave  with  four 
bays,  a  choir  of  one  bay,  and  a  circular  apse. 
The  nave  is  wide  and  has  two  aisles  which  termi- 
nate at  the  birth  of  the  apse.  The  pillars  of  the 
nave  are  massive  and  formed  of  three  stout 
columns. 

The  little  apse  retams  its  primitive  vaulting 
and  its  Xllth  century  pointed  arches.  The  win- 
dows, except  the  middle  one,  have  been  closed  up 
and  reopened  and  much  restored. 

In  the  choir,  separating  the  rectangular  portion 
from  the  round-point,  are  two  granite  columns 
with  white  marble  capitals,  of  great  antiquity 
and  considered  to  have  come  from  the  earliest 
Roman  temple. 

The  little  church  of  Saint-Jean  and  Saint- 
Francois,  in  the  Marais,  behind  the  Musee  des 
Archives,  contains  a  rarely  beautiful  statue  of 
Saint-Denis  by  Jacques  Sarazin,  made  by  order 
of  Anne  d'Autriche  for  the  abbey  of  Mont- 
martre. 

From  this  sumptuous  statue  alone,  one  may 
build  up  an  idea  of  the  importance  of  the  abbey 
for  which  it  was  designed,  and  it  is  interesting  to 
see  how  far  from  the  original  austerity  of  the 
history  of  the  martyr  one  had  already  strayed  in 
the  XVI I th  century.     Sarazin  presents  the  first 


TRANSITION  CHURCHES         257 

bishop  of  Paris  in  his  pontifical  robes,  kneeling 
in  graceful  suppliance  which  suggests  the  cour- 
tier of  the  regency  of  Anne  of  Austria.  The 
modelling  is  soft  and  plastic,  the  figure  has  grace, 
elegance,  and  an  appealing  beauty,  and  is  clothed 
in  voluminous  draperies  which  fall  in  handsome 
folds  and  show  superb  handling. 

The  little  church  which  gathered  in  the  relic 
after  the  Revolution,  was  founded  in  1623,  for 
a  chapel  to  the  convent  of  the  Capuchins,  and  is 
therefore  contemporary  with  the  statue.  The 
chancel  is  beautifully  done  in  wood  panelling  of 
the  epoch  and  many  of  the  details  are  worthy  of 
attention. 

As  a  pendant  to  the  statue  of  Saint-Denis  has 
been  placed,  the  two  within  the  chancel  rail,  an- 
other kneeling  statue,  of  Saint  Francis  of  Assisi, 
made  by  Germain  Pilon. 

Saint-Gentiain-de-Charonne 

This  old  church,  the  worthy  companion  of 
Saint-Pierre-de-Montmartre,  stands  in  a  remote 
quarter  of  Paris,  behind  the  cemetery  Pere  La- 
chaise.  Situated  upon  the  side  of  a  hill,  one 
approaches  it  by  a  broad  flight  of  thirty-one 
steps.  The  edifice  is  well  seen  from  the  church- 
yard on  the  north  side,  entered  by  a  gateway  at 


258  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

the  left,  at  the  top  of  the  steps,  and  from  this 
rambhng  old  garden,  full  of  lilac  bushes  and 
ancient  graves,  the  building  presents  a  curious 
aspect. 

The  side  wall  of  the  church  seems  buried  in 
the  side  of  the  hill,  while  its  immense  roof  of 
gray  tiles  piles  up,  in  picturesque  perspective,  to 
the  cock,  surmounting  the  steeple  on  the  opposite 
side.  The  outside  of  the  church  is  very  simple, 
the  belfry,  massive  and  low,  but  imposing  with 
its  buttresses  and  its  two  Roman-arched  windows 
and  its  pointed  roof,  terminating  in  a  cross,  car- 
rying the  cock.  It  is  a  good  old  French  belfry. 
We  breathe  the  France  of  old  days  here. 

The  name  Charonne  is  very  old.  L'abbe 
Lebeuf,  who  divined  often  that  which  modern 
science  has  since  proven,  said  that  the  name  was 
probably  Gallic.  The  parish  is  said  to  date  back 
to  Saint-Germain,  the  illustrious  bishop  of  Au- 
xerre,  who  in  one  of  his  voyages  to  England 
stopped  at  Charonne,  and  in  the  presence  of  the 
inhabitants  performed  a  miracle,  the  memory  of 
which  was  perpetuated  by  the  erection  of  an 
oratory  which  became  the  parish  church. 

The  church  has  been  much  altered  from  its 
primitive  transition  period  of  construction.  Two 
or   three   extra   bays,   destroyed    by   a    fire,   were 


TRANSITION  CHURCHES  259 

torn  down,  thus  giving  the  nave  a  shortened  ef- 
fect. The  church  is  of  two  epochs.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Xlllth  century  the  first  edifice  was 
constructed  in  the  primitive  Gothic  style.  In  the 
XVth  century,  having  become  too  small,  it  was 
pulled  down  to  build  a  larger  one.  In  this  recon- 
struction the  part  of  the  nave  and  right  aisle 
which  form  the  base  of  the  tower  was  preserved, 
and  this  old  part  is  very  interesting.  Two  old 
2)illars  belonging  to  this  Xlllth  century  con- 
struction are  readily  recognizable,  near  the  pres- 
ent entrance  of  the  church.  They  bear  certain 
points  of  resemblance  to  some  of  the  work  at 
Rheims,  Amiens,  and  the  first  pillars  of  the  nave 
at  Notre-Dame. 

The  ornamentation  is  of  the  Xlllth  and  XVth 
centuries.  All  this  sculpture  of  Saint-Germain-de- 
Charonne,  despite  the  mutilations  it  has  under- 
gone, has  lost  little  of  its  grandeur  and  grace. 
In  the  leafage  the  vine  motif  reigns  supreme, 
and  we  sense  at  once  the  proximity  of  the  grape 
country. 

Remnants  of  old  glass  may  still  be  found  in 
the  end  windows  of  the  aisles.  Just  within  the 
entrance  is  the  XVI Ith  century  painting  of  the 
consecration  of  Sainte-Genevieve  by  Saint-Ger- 
main-l'Auxerrois. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  TURNING  POINT: 
SAINT-MARTIN-DES-CHAMPS 

Having  quickened  the  appetite  with  a  torn  of 
the  lesser  churches  of  the  transition  period,  the 
loiterer  should  now  feel  primed  for  the  full  en- 
joyment of  the  most  perfect  specimen  of  the 
epoch,  in  which  one  can  hest  trace  the  actual 
passing  from  Roman  to  Gothic.  This  is  the 
abbatial  church  of  Saint  Martin  of  the  Fields. 

Of  all  the  ancient  religious  establishments  of 
Paris,  this  old  priory  retains  best  its  monastic 
aspect.  Instead  of  the  general  destruction  which 
was  the  fate  of  most  of  these  old  monasteries  at 
the  time  of  the  Revolution,  when  their  orders  were 
suppressed,  Saint-Martin  was  passed  intact  first 
to  a  manufactory  of  arms,  then,  in  1798,  to  the 
installation  of  the  then  newly  founded  Conserva- 
toire des  Arts  et  Metiers,  still  within  its  protect- 
ing enclosure. 

The  original  idea  of  such  an  institution  is  at- 
tributed to  Descartes,  though  not  put  into  execu- 
tion until  1775,  more  than  an  hundred  years  later 

260 


SAINT-MARTIN-DES-CHAMPS     261 

than  the  death  of  the  philosopher.  Vaucanson, 
the  celebrated  engineer,  organized  the  school  and 
bequeathed  to  the  state  his  collection  of  machines, 
instruments,  tools,  etc.,  for  the  benefit  of  the  work- 
ing classes,  and,  in  1794,  the  conservatory  was 
founded  bv  a  decree  of  the  Convention.  The 
museum  is  combined  with  a  technical  school,  the 
classes  in  which  are  free. 

Tlie  bequest  and  scheme  for  the  benefit  of 
tlie  workers  was  so  in  harmony  with  the  spirit 
directing  the  saner  side  of  the  Revolution,  and 
the  establishment  so  well  fitted  to  receive  the  in- 
stallation that  the  transformation  from  monastery 
to  technical  school  was  effected  without  demoli- 
tion. 

According  to  the  ancient  tradition  the  original 
priory,  of  which  this  vast  enclosure  was  the  out- 
growth, was  erected  where  Saint-Martin,  arriving 
near  the  gates  of  Paris,  cured  a  leper  by  pressing 
him  against  his  breast.  The  priory  became  an 
abbey  celebrated  under  the  second  race  of  French 
kings,  but  having  been  ruined  by  wars  and  other 
disorders  of  early  days,  Henri  I,  the  grandson 
of  Hugues  Capet,  rebuilt  and  refounded  the 
abbey  in  1060,  and  his  son,  Philippe  I,  confirmed 
and  increased  the  donation  by  his  chapter  of 
1067,  placing  the  new  foundation  under  the  abbey 


262  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

of  Cluny,  of  which  flourishing  order  it  was  the 
third  off-shoot. 

As  the  monastery  stood  without  the  walls  of 
Paris,  it  was  enclosed  hy  strong,  high  walls  of  its 
own,  battlemented  and  turreted,  constructed  by 
the  prior  Hugues  IV,  and  of  this  ancient  defence 
is  left  a  picturesque  round  tower  in  the  Rue  Saint- 
^lartin,  at  the  corner  of  the  Rue  Vertbois,  ceded 
by  the  monks  to  the  city,  in  1712,  for  the  erection 
of  a  fountain,  which  still  exists. 

The  monks  at  this  time  themselves  tore  down 
the  old  wall  which  once  ran  along  the  line  of 
the  present  Rue  Saint-Martin,  replacing  it  by 
domiciles  for  their  inhabitants,  and  destroyed  the 
principal  entrance,  which  had  been  restored  in 
1575  and  decorated  with  statues  of  the  two  royal 
founders.  Further  "  improvements  "  undertaken 
by  them  necessitated  the  destruction  of  the  old 
chapter  house,  the  tower  of  the  archives,  the 
chapel  of  the  Virgin,  and  the  famous  cloister, 
which  contained  stone  statues  of  three  genera- 
tions of  kings,  Henri  I,  Philippe  I,  and  Louis 
VI,  and  which  Piganiol  de  la  Force  describes  as 
unequalled  in  Paris  for  its  size  and  the  number 
of  its  columns. 

The  priory  of  Saint  Martin  of  the  Fields  was 


SAINT-MARTIN-DES-CHAMPS     263 

conceived  upon  a  scale  which  destined  it  to  be  the 
most  magnificent  religious  organization  of  France, 
and  was  governed  by  a  long  succession  of  illus- 
trious priors,  of  which  cardinal  Richelieu  was  one. 

The  old  church,  so  curiously  adapted  to  the 
uses  of  a  museum  of  hydraulic  machinery,  pre- 
serves its  exterior  intact,  with  certain  additions, 
and  can  be  seen  fairly  well  by  making  a  tour  of 
the  adjoining  streets.  It  is  of  two  epochs,  the 
actual  church  being  composed  of  a  nave  built  in 
the  XlVth  century  and  a  choir  and  apse  of  the 
Xllth  century.  A  tower,  of  which  we  still  see 
the  base,  rose  from  the  right-hand  side,  and  of 
the  two  tourclles  on  the  fa9ade,  the  right-hand 
one  is  original,  the  other  having  been  added  to 
balance  the  composition  during  recent  restora- 
tions. 

The  apse  of  Saint-Martin's,  considered  to  be 
an  importation  from  Picardie,  is  thought  to  have 
been  inspired  by  the  abbe  Suger,  when  he  de- 
sired to  build  the  abbey  of  Saint-Denis.  Au- 
thorities fix  the  date  between  the  years  1116  and 
1140.  This  apse  is  a  remarkable  document  upon 
the  origin  of  Gothic  architecture.  It  must  be 
classed  with  the  churches  of  Saint-Etienne  of 
Beauvais,  Notre-Dame  of  Poissy,  and  of  Saint- 


264  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Maclou  of  Pontoise,  in  all  of  which  we  find  the 
first  traces  of  that  style  of  which  the  cathedral  of 
Saint-Denis  is  the  point  of  arrival. 

To  gain  entrance  to  the  church  one  must  pass 
through  the  main  part  of  the  museum,  stepping 
at  length  through  a  modest  door  in  the  left  side 
of  the  nave.  The  nave  is  long,  high,  and  wide, 
without  aisles  and  without  pillars.  Its  roof  is 
of  wood,  arched  and  supported  by  beams  of  the 
simplest,  frankest  construction.  There  are  six- 
teen side  windows  in  pairs,  surmounted  each  by  a 
rosace,  and  the  fa9ade  is  pierced  by  a  large  win- 
dow in  four  divisions,  surmounted  by  six  quatre- 
foils,  and  over  all  a  pretty  rose.  The  nave,  de- 
nuded of  all  ecclesiastic  suggestion  and  filled 
with  airplanes  and  other  objects  of  modern  inven- 
tion, still  holds  a  sense  of  tremendous  power  on 
the  strength  of  its  proportions  alone. 

The  apse,  however,  is  the  most  interesting  part 
of  the  edifice.  It  is  lower  than  the  nave  by  some 
half  a  dozen  steps,  which  descend  from  the  rear 
of  the  sanctuary.  Here  one  steps  upon  large 
funeral  stones  with  wliich  the  church  was  paved, 
and  upon  which  may  still  be  seen  traces  of  nearly 
effaced  effigies  of  the  monks  and  priors  interred 
beneath  the  choir. 

The   apse   is   entirely    of   stone,   very   beautiful 


SAINT-MARTIN-DES-CHAMPS     265 

stone,  cut  with  precision  and  care,  its  pillars  in 
groups  and  pairs  not  formed  of  monoliths  but  of 
stones  of  equal  size  and  shape,  cemented  together. 
A  large  chapel  with  Roman  windows  at  the  back 
and  windows  slightly  pointed  at  the  sides,  forms 
the  centre  of  the  round-point  and  a  chain  of 
smaller  chapels  links  the  apse  to  the  nave.  The 
construction  of  these  chapels  with  their  unde- 
cided arches  in  which  the  architect  seems  to  have 
hesitated  and  experimented  between  full  round- 
ness and  varied  degrees  of  pointing,  is  exceedingly 
curious.  From  this  bizarre  mixture  and  tentative 
design  archaeologists  have  adjudged  that  the 
pointed  arches  of  Saint-Martin's  are  the  first 
which  Paris  knew,  and  that  the  edifice  was  one  of 
the  earliest  in  which  the  Gothic  style  battled 
against  the  Roman. 

The  ornamentation  of  the  apse  is  rich  and 
varied.  In  the  capitals  of  the  twin  columns  which 
make  the  tour  of  the  choir,  the  sculpture  passes 
from  something  Byzantine  in  its  elements  through 
the  Roman  forms  to  the  point  where  the  Gothic 
flower  begins  to  spring.  All  the  carving  is  strong 
and  able,  indicating  the  hand  of  sculptors  of  the 
first  quality. 

A  Xllth  century  Virgin  in  wood,  from  this 
church,  was  transported  to  Saint-Denis. 


266  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

The  refectory  of  the  priory,  now  converted 
into  a  library,  is  considered  a  chef-d'aeuvre  of  the 
early  Xlllth  century,  and  by  its  extreme  light- 
ness and  beauty  justifies  the  tradition  that  it  is 
the  work  of  Pierre  de  Montereau,  the  talented 
architect  of  Saint-Louis.  If  it  be  indeed  the 
work  of  this  architect  it  will  be  a  youthful  pro- 
duction, a  forerunner  of  the  Sainte-Chapelle  and 
the  Virgin's  chapel  of  Saint-Germain-des-Pres, 
yet  is  there  nothing  tentative  in  its  handsome 
proportions  and  its  rich  detail.  Here  is  indeed 
no  longer  the  bizarre  indecision  of  the  apse  of 
the  church,  but  an  art  in  definitive  possession  of 
its  style. 

It  was  an  architect  of  more  than  ordinary 
prowess  who  knew  how  to  throw  the  weight  of  the 
vaulting  of  this  high  and  narrow  building  upon 
the  walls  with  their  buttresses,  and  leave  himself 
free  to  support  the  roof  by  this  file  of  tall, 
slender  pillars,  which,  passing  along  the  middle 
of  the  length,  divides  the  interior  into  two  naves. 
Mullioned  windows  in  pairs,  surmounted  by 
pretty  rosaces,  fill  seven  of  the  eight  bays  into 
which  the  long  interior  is  divided,  on  the  north 
side,  and  two  more  pierce  the  west  wall.  This 
arrangement  is  repeated  in  blind  windows  on  the 


SAINT-MARTIN-DES-CHAMPS     267 

opposite  walls,  rendering  the  interior  perfectly 
symmetrical. 

Placed  rather  high  on  the  north  side  of  the 
hall  and  taking  the  place  of  the  second  pair  of 
windows,  is  the  reader's  pulpit,  one  of  the  oldest 
and  most  beautiful  refectory  pulpits  in  existence. 
Built  against  the  wall  and  projecting  therefrom, 
so  that  the  voice  might  be  heard  by  the  most 
distant  of  the  diners,  this  pulpit  is  reached  by  a 
stairway  in  graceful  openwork  stone,  enclosed  in 
the  thickness  of  the  wall.  Viollet-le-Duc,  the 
famous  restorer  of  Gothic  architecture,  allows 
himself  a  burst  of  professional  enthusiasm  for  this 
pulpit: 

"  On  remarquera  la  disposition  ingenieuse  de 
Vescalier  montant  a  cette  cliaire,  pratique  dans 
Vepaisseur  du  mur;  il  n'est  clos  du  cote  de  Vin- 
terieur  que  par  une  claire-voie;  niais  pour  eviter 
que  la  charge  du  inur  au-dessiis  necrasdt  cette 
claire-voie ,  le  construct eur  a  pose  un  arc  de  de- 
charge  qui  vient  la  soidager,  et  afin  que  cet  arc 
ne  poussdt  pas,  les  premiers  pieds-droits  de  la 
claire-voie  ont  etc  inclines  de  fafon  a  op  poser  une 
hutee  a  cette  poussee.  Aujourd'hui  on  de- 
manderait  d'user  d'artifices  pour  ohtenir  ce  re- 
sultat    de    hutee    sans    le    rendre    apparent;    au 


268  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

commencement  du  Xiii^  siecle,  on  n'y  mettait  pas 
autre.ment  de  finesses." 

Formerly  a  painting  by  Louis  Sylvestre,  repre- 
senting the  life  of  Saint-Benoit,  ornamented  the 
attic  of  the  refectory,  now  replaced  by  symbolic 
figures  of  the  arts  and  sciences.  The  decoration 
of  Saint-Martin  dividing  his  cloak  with  the 
beggar  is  by  Steinheil.  This  incident  is  sup- 
posed to  have  taken  place  at  Amiens. 

In  conclusion  one  cannot  too  much  admire  the 
masterly  execution  of  the  capitals  of  the  columns, 
the  consoles,  the  escutcheons  which  lock  the  ribs 
of  the  vaulting,  and  the  roses  above  the  windows. 
The  whole  spirit  of  this  room  breathes  elevation 
and  nobility. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
DAGOBERT'S  BASILICA:  SAINT-DENIS 

But  for  a  long  time  the  loiterer,  if  he  be  at  all 
attuned  to  the  pitch  intended,  will  have  been  long- 
ing to  break  awaj^  from  the  leading  strings  which 
detain  him  in  such  abstract  churches  as  these  just 
described,  and  to  make  his  way  to  that  dingy 
suburban  town,  situated  to  the  north  of  Paris,  in 
the  valley  of  the  Seine,  and  distant  but  a  few 
kilometres  from  the  fortifications,  whose  sole 
aesthetic  interest  is  the  amazing  Gothic  church  of 
Saint-Denis. 

Though  celebrated  for  several  reasons,  Saint- 
Denis  owes  its  chief  renown  to  the  roj^al  tombs  of 
which  it  has  become  the  repository,  a  truly  glorious 
collection  of  medieval  and  renaissance  sculptures. 
From  the  time  of  Dagobert  (628),  who  conceived 
the  cathedral,  to  Louis  XVIII,  who,  after  the 
despoliation  of  the  Revolution  restored  the  chap- 
ter, Saint-Denis  had  been  the  sepulchre  of  the 
kings  of  France.  The  series  of  tombs  commenced 
with  that  of  Dagobert  (the  last  great  Merovingien, 
great-great-grandson   of    Clovis),    included    eight 

269 


270  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Carlovingiens,  with  but  few  exceptions  the  kings 
of  the  third  race,  from  Hugues  Capet  to  Henri 
II  and  his  sons  (the  last  of  the  House  of  Valois), 
and  the  Bourbons  down  to  Louis  XVIII. 

The  violation  of  these  tombs  during  the  Revolu- 
tion, the  transference  of  most  of  the  important 
monuments  to  the  shelter  of  the  Petits-Augustins, 
their  restitution  to  Saint-Denis  accompanied  by 
numerous  homeless  effigies,  tombs,  and  statues  torn 
from  destroyed  churches,  convents,  monasteries, 
and  abbeys,  placed  pHe-mele  in  Lenoir's  museum, 
thence  chased  out  again  by  the  suppression  of  the 
museum  and  the  turning  over  of  the  convent 
buildings  to  the  Ecole  des  Beaux-Arts,  all  this 
tragic  history  belongs  to  a  later  survey. 

At  the  moment  it  is  the  cathedral  itself  which 
interests  us,  this  cathedral  in  which,  as  we  have 
said,  Gothic  architecture  reached  its  point  of  ar- 
rival. The  church  as  we  see  it,  for  it  has  passed 
through  many  strains  of  rebuilding,  demolition, 
restoration,  is  still  eloquent  of  the  transition — its 
right-hand  tower  is  almost  pure  Romanesque — 
but  its  secondary  apse  and  its  semi-circular  chapels 
are  considered  as  the  first  perfected  attempt  at 
Gothic,  and  carry  us  a  step  beyond  the  experi- 
ments of  Saint-INIartin-des-Champs. 

The  name  and  fame  of  the  cathedral  are  derived 


Photo  A.   tinaadon 
THE    MARTYRDOAf    OF    SAINT-DEXIS.      PRIMITIVE    FRENCH   PAINTING,    ABOUT    1400, 
ATTRIBUTED    TO    JEAN    ..MAI.OUEL.       LOUVRE    MUSEUM. 


I'lioto    X 


INTERIOR    OF    THE    CATIIEDKAL    OF    SAINT-DENIS. 

SHOWING    THE    ASCENT    TO    THE    AMBULATORY    AND    CHAPELS. 

TO   THE  LEFT,   THE   TOMB   OF   HENRI   II   AND   CATHERINE   DE   MEDICIS. 


Photo  X 


IXTERIOB  OF  THE   CATHEDRAL  OF   SAINT-DENIS. 
THE    TRANSEPT    WITH    THE   TOMB   OF 
FRANgOIS  I  AND  CLAUDE   DE  FRANCE. 


SAINT-DENIS  273 

from  the  abbey  founded  by  Dagobert  on  the  spot 
where,  according  to  tradition,  Saint-Denis  halted 
his  fateful  march,  from  the  summit  of  JMont- 
martre,  and  was   interred. 

The  epoch  of  the  founder  of  Christianity  in 
Paris  is  uncertain;  ecclesiastical  historians  hesitate 
between  the  1st,  Ilnd,  and  even  the  IVth  centuries. 
His  origin  is  unknown,  even,  according  to  the 
sceptics,  mythical.  Whether  he  was  Denis  Areo- 
pagite,  converted  in  Athens  by  the  preaching  of 
Saint  Paul,  commissioned  to  announce  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ  to  the  Parisians,  or  whether  he 
was  another  person  of  the  same  name  sent  to  the 
Gauls  about  the  middle  of  the  Ilird  century  and 
put  to  death  during  the  persecution  ordered  by 
Decius  has  not  been  decided. 

His  history  is  written  in  monuments  and 
popular  traditions,  and  this  history  asserts  and 
constantly  reiterates  that  the  founder  and  first 
bishop  of  the  church  of  Paris  was  called  Denis, 
that  he  was  assisted  in  his  apostolic  work  by  the 
priest  Rustique,  and  the  deacon  Eleuthere,  and 
that  all  three  sealed  their  accomplished  mission 
with  their  blood. 

Not  two  centuries  ago  there  was  still  shown  at 
Notre-Dame-des-Champs,  at  that  time  remote 
from   the   walls   of   Paris,    a   crypt    where   Saint- 


274  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Denis  called  together  the  first  of  the  fcaithful;  at 
Saint-Benoit  a  chapel  built  on  the  site  of  an 
oratory  where  Saint-Denis  had  first  invoked  the 
name  of  the  Trinity ;  at  Saint-Denis-de-la-Chartre, 
the  prison  where  Christ  came  himself  to  fortify 
the  confessors  by  administering  his  body  and 
blood;  at  Saint-Denis-du-Pas  the  place  where  the 
trio  suffered  the  first  tortures;  and  finally  the 
summit  of  Montmartre  where  their  heads  fell 
under  the  sword. 

"  The  holy  bishop  Denis,  and  his  two  compan- 
ions," wrote  Hilduin,  abbot  of  Saint-Denis  in  the 
IXth  century,  "  suffered  their  glorious  martyrdom 
within  view  of  the  city  of  the  Parisians,  upon  a 
hill  previously  called  Mount  of  Mercury,  in 
honour  of  a  god  in  particular  favour  amongst  the 
Gauls,  but  thereafter  known  as  Mount  of  the 
Martyrs  in  memory  of  the  saints  who  died  there." 

The  origin  of  the  church  of  Saint-Denis  is  sub- 
ject to  two  interpretations.  According  to  one  a 
pious  woman  called  Catulle,  having  assisted  the 
three  martyrs  during  their  imprisonment,  dared  to 
gather  up  the  mutilated  remains  and  buried  them 
in  a  field  belonging  to  herself,  later  included  in 
the  possessions  of  the  abbey  of  Saint-Denis.  We 
know  that  long  before  the  invasion  of  the  Francs 
a  basilica,  superbly  ornamented  and   famous  for 


SAINT-DENIS  275 

the  miracles  wrought  there,  was  raised  upon 
Catulle's  field. 

According  to  another  version  the  early  church 
succeeded  a  temple  erected  to  Bacchus,  while  the 
story  of  Saint-Denis  himself  is  a  legend  of  pagan 
origin,  the  name  Denis  being  indeed  a  derivative 
from  the  Greek  name  of  the  wine  god,  Dionysos. 

The  explanation  is  as  ingenious  as  it  is  impious, 
and  the  author  gives  himself  to  its  elaboration 
with  a  certain  zest.     Here  it  is: 

It  is  well  known  that  the  country  known  under 
the  name  of  the  tie  de  France  was  once  a  grape- 
growing  country.  All  the  hills  near  the  Seine 
were  planted  with  vines  and  no  department  of 
France  bore  more  fruit  in  proportion  to  its  extent. 

In  such  a  country  Bacchus  was  greatly  re- 
spected. Pej'  Bacco  was  a  familiar  oath  and  tem- 
ples were  raised  to  the  god  of  wine  and  offerings 
made  in  the  interest  of  the  crops.  As  we  know, 
most  of  the  early  Christian  churches  repose  upon 
the  ruins  of  temples  or  altars  dedicated  in  remoter 
centuries  to  pagan  deities.  Notre-Dame  covers 
the  foundation  of  an  altar  raised  to  a  nautical 
divinity,  Saint-Germain-des-Pres  stands  upon  the 
site  of  a  temple  to  Isis,  Saint-Pierre-de-INIont- 
martre  succeeds  Mercury,  and  Saint-Denis  dis- 
places Bacchus. 


276  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Our  impious  author  leaves  nothing  unaccounted 
for.  Rustique  and  Eleuthere,  the  companions  of 
Saint-Denis,  he  figures  to  have  been  created  out 
of  the  supposed  legend  of  the  temple:  Dionysio 
Rustico  Eleuthero — Dionysio  Frenchified  becomes 
Denys  or  Denis;  Rustico,  because  his  altar  was  in 
the  country;  and  Eleuthero  or  free,  one  of  the 
surnames   of  Bacchus. 

Along  comes  Christianity  to  the  Gauls  and  the 
peasants  receive  the  new  faith  but  hold  instinc- 
tively to  the  old  traditions  of  paganism,  and  myths 
become  mysteries.  To  form  an  alliance  between 
the  old  beliefs — vague,  effaced,  but  persistent,  was 
easy  to  a  clever  pious  legendary.  He  invents  a 
martyr,  canonizes  the  pagan  divinity,  while  for 
the  legend  of  Saint-Denis'  miraculous  march  from 
Montmartre  to  the  site  of  the  cathedral,  this  be- 
comes simply  the  glorified  history  of  the  god  over- 
come by  wine,  who  loses  his  head  yet  carries  it 
with  him. 

Be  that  as  it  may  the  first  edifice  erected  in 
honour  of  the  first  bishop  of  Paris  fell  into  ruins 
in  the  Vth  century  and  Sainte-Genevieve  rebuilt 
it,  while  Gregoire  de  Tours  describes  the  miracles 
worked  in  this  temple  for  the  cure  of  pilgrims 
and  the  chastisement  of  sinners. 

The  magnificence  with  which  Dagobert  rebuilt 


SAINT-DENIS  277 

and  invested  the  church  and  abbey  quite  casts  the 
memory  of  the  earliest  constructions  into  the 
shade.  Despite  his  ferocity,  this  last  powerful 
Merovingien  had  the  sentiment  of  art,  but,  as 
founder  of  religious  monuments  or  as  sovereign, 
his  penchant  for  rapacity  always  breaks  out. 
Thus  to  adorn  Saint-Denis  he  carried  off  innu- 
merable riches  and  ornaments  from  other  sacred 
edifices,  as  his  predecessors  had  done  before  him, 
contributing  to  the  glories  of  the  treasure  his 
pious  thefts. 

In  spite  of  all  his  vices  Fredegonde's  grandson 
was  a  popular  king.  It  is  to  be  presumed  that,  in 
his  large  way,  he  had  qualities  of  the  heart,  and 
his  name  lives  in  many  an  old  song,  as  le  bon  roi 
Dagohert,  as  well  as  that  of  his  companion,  Saint- 
Eloy,  the  king's  artistic  goldsmith,  who  by  a  set 
of  chances  as  curious  as  those  which  befell  the 
naif  Koko  became,  as  we  have  seen,  treasurer,  dip- 
lomat, bishop,  founder  of  monasteries,  saint! 

From  the  beginning  of  his  reign  Dagobert 
undertook  the  rebuilding  of  the  church.  He  deco- 
rated it  with  precious  marbles,  magnificent  tapes- 
tries, bronze  doors,  vases  of  gold  set  with  jewels. 
Saint-Eloy  chiselled  with  his  own  hands  the  tomb 
of  the  martyrs  and  the  great  gold  cross  erected 
before  the  entrance  to  the  choir,  and,  in  order  that 


278  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

so  handsome  a  monument  should  have  a  dedication 
worthy  of  it,  says  tradition,  Jesus  Christ  himself, 
surrounded  by  a  glorious  company  of  saints  and 
martyrs  assisted  at  the  celebration.  In  one  of  the 
chapels  the  place  is  still  shown,  upon  request, 
where  the  divine  cortege  made  its  entrance  into 
the  basilica  of  Dagobert. 

After  Dagobert  there  were  restorations  by 
Pepin  and  Charlemagne,  restorations  almost  com- 
pletely obliterated,  presumably  by  the  terrible 
disasters  following  the  Norman  invasion  and  the 
civil  wars  of  Charlemagne's  reign,  for,  during  the 
interval  between  Charlemagne  and  Louis  VII 
the  church  probably  shared  the  fate  of  most  of  the 
monasteries  of  northern  France,  though  no  actual 
account  has  been  preserved.  The  architecture  of 
the  central  part  of  the  crypt — its  round  arches  and 
historic  capitals — indicate  the  reconstructions  of  the 
Xlth  century,  while  of  the  vaunted  magnificence 
of  the  church  of  Dagobert  and  the  early  Carlo- 
vingiens  no  material  souvenirs  remain  except  a 
few  columns  and  marble  capitals,  standing  upright 
against  the  walls  of  the  crypt. 

About  the  year  1091  a  lad  of  poor  parentage 
entered  the  abbey  of  Saint-Denis.  This  was 
Suger,  destined  to  become  in  his  mature  years 
abbot  of  the  monastery  and  famous  as  ecclesiastic. 


SAINT-DENIS  279 

statesman,  and  historian.  Louis  VI  was  his  pupil 
and  he  was  the  friend  and  counsellor  of  both 
Louis  VI   and  Louis  VII. 

Immediately  upon  his  appointment  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  abbey  he  put  into  action  his  long 
cherished  ambition  to  rebuild  the  cathedral  upon 
a  scale  of  magnificence  of  which  we  still  see  in 
the  existing  church  many  evidences.  He  built 
rapidly  the  portail,  the  tower,  the  choir,  the  nave, 
and  finally  the  lower  chapels  of  the  chevet  and  the 
apse  which  surmounts  them.  This  work  antedated 
Notre-Dame  by  about  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

Suger  superintended  everything — the  quarrying 
of  the  stone,  the  choice  of  the  woods,  the  design 
of  the  windows,  the  making  of  the  cross  and  the 
sacred  vessels,  and  composed  the  Latin  couplets 
which  described  the  objects  of  his  concern.  Under 
one  of  the  three  rows  of  arches  above  the  main 
entrance  runs  an  inscription  recording  the  erection 
of  the  church  by  the  abbe  Suger,  minister  to 
Louis  VI,  with  abbatial  funds,  and  its  consecra- 
tion, in  1140. 

The  porch,  formed  by  the  first  three  bays  of 
the  church,  contains  some  remains  of  the  basilica 
of  Pepin  and  Charlemagne,  the  secondary  apse 
and  its  semi-circular  chapels  were  built  under 
Suger.    The  nave  proper  and  most  of  the  choir  and 


280  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

transepts  date  from  the  reign  of  Saint-Louis,  and, 
as  we  have  said,  are  considered  as  the  first  per- 
fected Gothic.  The  transepts  have  fine  fa9ades 
of  the  Xllth  and  Xlllth  centuries,  each  with  two 
unfinished  towers,  and  had  the  plan  been  fully 
carried  out  there  would  have  been  six  towers  be- 
sides a  central  spire,  in  lead.  The  facade  orig- 
inally carried  a  spire  on  the  north  tower,  which 
twice  destroyed  by  lightning  was  finally  done 
away  with  in  the  last  restorations. 

The  abbey  flourished  exceedingly  and  uninter- 
ruptedly until  the  last  years  of  the  reign  of  the 
House  of  Valois.  Louis  IX  and  Philippe  le 
Hardi  made  extensive  repairs  which  occupied  half 
a  century  (1231-1281),  and  the  XlVth  century 
added  the  lateral  chapels  of  the  nave,  one  after 
another.  The  last  important  additions  were  made 
under  Henri  II  and  Catherine  de  Medicis,  who 
constructed  a  sumptuous  chapel,  known  as  the 
Chapelle  des  Valois,  for  the  tombs  of  the  princes 
of  their  race.  This  chapel,  in  the  form  of  a 
rotunda,  joined  the  church  on  the  northern  flank 
of  the  apse.  It  was  destroyed  during  the  regency 
of  Philippe  d'Orleans,  who  transported  its  fine 
columns  to  the  Pare  Monceau,  where,  forming  a 
semi-circular  Corinthian  colonnade  behind  an  oval 
piece  of  water,  they  simulate  ancient  ruins.     The 


Photo 


LA   NAUMACHIE;    PARC    MONCEAU. 
CONSTRUCTED    FROM    THE   RUINS    OF   THE 
CHAPEIXE    DES    VAEOIS    AT    SAINT-DENIS. 


SAINT^DENIS  283 

connection  is  clear,  since  the  Pare  Monceau  was  a 
property  bought,  in  1778,  by  PhiHppe  d'Orleans 
— Philippe  Egalite — under  whose  direction  it  was 
laid  out  as  a  garden.  This  Naumachie,  as  it  was 
called,  built  in  imitation  of  the  circular  pools  of 
Roman  origin  for  spectacular  naval  combats,  was 
a  great  attraction  in  its  day,  and  still  forms  an 
appealing  feature  of  the  park. 

With  Catherine  de  Medicis,  Saint-Denis  reached 
its  zenith  and  the  next  century  saw  its  rapid  de- 
chne.  Under  the  influence  of  Madame  de  Main- 
tenon,  Louis  XIV  suppressed  the  abbey  and  its 
revenues  were  turned  over  to  Saint-Cyr  to  enrich 
the  king's  gift  to  his  mistress.  The  reign  of  Louis 
XV  demolished  the  buildings  of  the  old  .monas- 
tery, after  which  came  the  Revolution  with  its 
wholesale  demolition  of  tombs  and  degradation  of 
the  church,  which  became  successively  a  "  Temple 
of  Reason,"  a  depot  for  artillery,  a  warehouse  for 
feed  and  flour,  while  awaiting  threatened  destruc- 
tion. This  was  a  time  of  strong  compromises  and 
in  order  to  save  even  part  of  the  magnificent 
cathedral  its  friends  were  obliged  to  offer  it  as  a 
public  market. 

Already  its  roof  had  been  taken  off  and  the 
glass  of  its  many  windows  broken  or  removed. 
The  chapels  were  conveniently  turned  into  stalls. 


284  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

to  which  their  shape  and  disposition  readily  rec- 
ommended them.  From  this  grave  peril  the  Con- 
cordat saved  the  church  in  1806,  when  an  imperial 
decree  made  Saint-Denis  the  seat  of  a  chapter 
and  the  tomb  of  a  new  dynasty. 

"  From  Dodon,  the  first  abbot  of  Saint-Denis, 
who  lived  in  627,"  says  Guilhermy,  "  to  Jean- 
Fran9ois-Paul  de  Gondi,  cardinal  de  Retz,  who 
was  the  last,  seventy-three  abbots  governed  the 
monastery.  Amongst  them  were  Fulrad,  Hilduin, 
Suger,  Mathieu  de  Vendome,  Charles  the  Bald, 
the  kings  Eudes,  Robert,  Hugues  Capet,  the  car- 
dinals of  Bourbon,  of  Lorraine,  of  Guise,  Mazarin, 
and  the  famous  coadjutor  so  celebrated  for  his 
exploits,  his  memoirs,  and  his  penitence." 

The  fairly  thorough  examination  which  we  have 
made  of  Notre-Dame  will  render  easy  the  reading 
of  Saint-Denis  to  those  who  have,  by  now,  de- 
veloped a  taste  for  Gothic  lines  and  ornament. 
The  three  doors  which  open  in  the  west  facade 
have  undergone  much  restoration — the  north  door 
is  wholly  modern  and  utterly  atrocious — but  the 
curious  sculptures  with  which  Suger  filled  the 
tympanums  and  voussoirs  of  the  others  are  readily 
distinguishable  from  the  modern  restorations  and 
additions. 

The  central  door,  like  that  of  Notre-Dame,  has 


SAINT-DENIS  285 

for  motive  the  familiar  Last  Judgment  with  its 
contrasts  of  joy  and  sorrow,  so  popular  with  the 
sculptors  of  the  Moyen  Age.  The  lower  panel 
contains  a  particularly  spirited  scene  of  the  rising 
of  the  dead  upon  the  Day  of  Judgment,  and  in 
the  archivolt  there  is,  to  the  right,  the  fantastic  pro- 
cession of  the  damned,  scourged  by  the  usual 
devils  and  falling  into  the  fires  of  the  Inferno, 
while  to  the  left  an  animated  representation  of 
Father  Abraham  receiving  with  glee  the  elect 
upon  his  bosom,  where  he  holds  them  within  the 
folds  of  a  napkin,  after  the  manner  of  a  benevo- 
lent kangaroo. 

The  south  door  is  given  to  the  martyrdom  of 
Saint-Denis  and  his  companions.  The  saints  and 
their  executioners  are  figured  in  the  voussoir,  and 
in  the  tympanum  Christ  appears  to  Saint-Denis 
and  his  two  companions  in  their  prison.  In  the 
tympanum  of  the  north  door  a  poor  caricature 
of  Gothic  style  replaces  a  mosaic  which  Suger 
brought  from  Italy  especially  for  the  place  and 
which  disappeared  in  the  various  rebuildings  of 
this  tower. 

Suger  made  two  diplomatic  voyages  into  Italy, 
which  fact  accounts  for  the  slight  Italian  influence 
still  noticeable  in  the  facade,  such  as  the  alternate 
courses  of  white  stone  and   black  marble   in   the 


286  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

narrow,  pointed  bays  which  flank  the  middle  rose 
window. 

At  the  end  of  the  north  transept  is  another  door 
of  interesting  workmanship,  which  has  preserved 
six  large  statues,  presumably  double  personalities 
representing  the  first  kings  of  the  Capetien 
dynasty — Hugues  Capet,  Robert  the  Pious,  Henri 
I,  Philippe  I,  Louis  VI,  and  Louis  VII— under 
the  guise  of  ancestors  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  the 
tympanum  is  again  the  history  of  Saint-Denis,  his 
condemnation  and  punishment. 

The  arrangement  of  the  interior  of  the  church  is 
full  of  character  and  individuality,  differing  con- 
siderably from  the  usual  plan.  We  enter  upon  a 
sort  of  interior  porch,  composed  of  the  first  two 
bays,  which,  as  we  have  said,  remain  from  the 
church  of  the  al)be  Suger,  strongly  built  to  sup- 
port the  towers  and  consequently  more  resistant 
than  the  nave.  Thus  we  look  down  into  the  nave 
and  across  to  the  choir  and  crypt,  the  choir  raised 
by  a  considerable  number  of  steps. 

The  nave,  as  we  see  it,  built  under  Saint-Louis 
and  Philippe  le  Hardi,  by  the  abbots  Eudes 
Clement  and  Mathieu  de  Vendome,  extends  eight 
bays,  the  first  blind,  the  last  seven  filled  their  com- 
plete width  witli  immense  windows.  The  roof  of 
the  nave  has  been  criticized  for  its  round  arch,  an 


SAINT-DENIS  287 

uncommon  fault  in  constructions  of  the  period, 
and  unsparingly  revealed  by  the  clarity  of  the 
garish  modern  windows,  which  date  for  the  most 
part  from  the  reign  of  Louis-Philippe.  The  ex- 
plosions at  Cour  Neuve  in  1918  shattered  some 
of  the  windows,  and  at  the  moment  there  are  many 
bare  spaces  in  the  roses  as  well  as  in  the  windows 
of  the  clerestory. 

We  have  remarked  already  how  Suger  gave  of 
his  superfluity  some  glass  to  Notre-Dame,  in 
which,  having  himself  erected  a  similar  monument, 
he  must  have  taken  a  paternal  interest.  By  his 
care  the  windows  of  Saint-Denis  were  filled  with 
brilliant  glass  of  which  the  few  remaining  frag- 
ments attest  the  extraordinary  quality  and  beauty. 
During  the  Revolution  many  precious  panels, 
hastily  dismounted,  were  packed  in  the  storage 
rooms  of  the  Musee  des  Petits-Augustins — Lenoir 
saved  what  he  could — but  only  a  very  little  was 
restored  to  Saint-Denis  and  no  one  knows  what 
became  of  the  remainder. 

The  Virgin's  Chapel,  in  the  centre  of  the  apse, 
contains  most  of  the  original  glass  which  was 
saved  and  the  remainder  occupies  a  window  in  the 
adjoining  chapel  on  the  left.  The  subjects  de- 
picted in  small  medallions  are  mystical,  partly 
inspired  by  the  Apocalypse,  partly  dealing  with 


288  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

the  life  of  Moses,  and  fragments  of  a  series  rep- 
resenting the  Tree  of  Jesse.  A  careful  examina- 
tion of  them  reveals  the  original  inscriptions  which 
Suger  furnished  as  explanatory  of  the  figures,  and 
one  medallion  in  particular  shows  Suger  himself 
prostrate  before  the  Virgin,  who  receives  the  angel 
of  the  Annunciation. 

Such  other  fragments  of  ancient  glass  as  exist 
have  been  gathered  from  other  churches  and  in- 
clude some  XVI  th  century  glass  bought  at  Rouen 
and  hberally  restored.  All  that  is  antique  has 
been  distributed  throughout  the  chapels  of  the 
apse  interlarded  with  modern  imitations,  but  the 
sensitive  eye  will  have  no  difficulty  in  detecting  the 
real  and  rejecting  the  spurious,  and  while  much 
of  the  fragmentary  assemblage  is  interesting,  the 
three  windows  in  the  middle  of  the  round-point  are 
the  only  ones  of  complete  importance. 

The  modern  glass  with  which  the  church  is  filled 
represents  an  enormous  outlay  of  funds  with 
disastrous  results.  Louis-Philippe  is  the  culprit, 
his  idea  being  no  less  than  to  decorate  the  church 
with  a  series  of  colossal  figures  of  the  kings  and 
queens  of  France  beginning  with  the  first  race. 
The  portraits  done  against  blood-red  backgrounds 
with  strong  yellows  make  really  a  vile  disturbance 
in  this  beautiful  cathedral  and  it  is  difficult  to  com- 


SAINT-DENIS  289 

prehend  an  epoch  that  could  have  countenanced 
them.  If  Louis-Phihppe  wanted  to  compensate 
the  church  for  the  depredations  of  the  Revolution- 
ists, he  succeeds  only  in  inspiring  similar  impulses. 

The  windows  of  this  church  are  unhappily  many 
and  we  must  see  much  history  thus  violently  pre- 
sented, such  as  the  life  of  Saint-Louis,  the  restora- 
tion of  the  cathedral  under  Napoleon,  the  inter- 
ment of  Louis  XVIII,  etc.  The  Tree  of  Jesse 
again  occupies  the  north  rose,  while  the  subject 
of  its  companion,  to  the  south,  is  the  Creation, 
the  signs  of  the  zodiac,  and  the  months  and  sea- 
sons. The  legend  of  Saint-Denis,  his  martyrdom, 
burial,  and  the  various  reconstructions  of  his 
church  from  Saint-Genevieve  to  Saint-Louis,  oc- 
cupy the  thirteen  upper  windows  of  the  choir. 

Let  us  return  a  moment  to  the  Chapel  of  the 
Virgin,  to  the  windows  placed  in  lloO  by  the 
abbe  Suger.  They  are  in  small  designs,  a  series 
of  episodes  in  lozenges  or  medallions,  and  the  part 
which  receives  the  light  is  prepared  so  as  to  soften 
the  passage  of  the  sun's  rays.  The  glass  of  the 
Sainte-Chapelle,  of  which  the  greater  part  has 
been  preserved,  is  a  full  century  later  than  that 
which  Suger  ordered  for  his  church.  We  know 
nothing  of  the  artists  employed  by  the  abbot  in 
their  design  and  execution,  almost  eight  centuries 


290  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

ago,  yei  their  vigorous  handling  suggests  strong 
personality  and  entire  proficiency.  Cimabue  was 
the  first  known  painter  of  windows.  He  lived  a 
century  later  than  the  artists  of  the  windows  of 
Notre-Dame  and  Saint-Denis. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE  SAINTE-CHAPELLE 

In  the  Sainte-Chapelle,  now  irrelevantly  at- 
tached to  the  Palais  de  Justice,  but  built,  eight 
hundred  years  ago,  to  form  part  of  the  ancient 
palace  of  the  kings  of  France,  we  reach  the  very 
acme  of  Gothic  supremacy. 

In  all  the  monuments  which  we  have  visited 
till  now  we  have  been  thrilled  by  the  evident  traces 
of  the  mighty  struggle  which  marked  the  transi- 
tion from  Romanesque  to  Gothic — nowhere  more 
convincingly  presented  than  in  the  church  of 
Saint-Martin.  The  churches  and  buildings  finished 
in  the  XII Ith  century  are  nearly  all  Romanesque 
at  the  base  with  a  superstructure  showing  Gothic 
principles  grafted  on  an  intermediate  or  transi- 
tion style.  Since  the  construction  of  an  important 
edifice  usually  covered  a  century  or  more,  old 
styles  declined  while  others  were  born  and  de- 
veloped during  the  process. 

The  Sainte-Chapelle,  on  the  contrary,  is  one  of 
those  rare  types  which  characterize  an  epoch.  Its 
construction  covered  the  briefest  space  of  time,  for, 

291 


292  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

begun  in  1245  and  finished  in  1248,  it  was  the 
work  of  one  artist,  done  under  one  inspiration. 

Built  for  Saint-Louis  by  his  gifted  architect, 
Pierre  de  IMontereau,  at  the  height  of  his  career, 
and  destined  to  contain  the  Crown  of  Thorns  and 
a  portion  of  the  True  Cross,  the  Sainte-Chapelle 
is  not  to  be  considered  as  an  ordinary  chapel,  but 
as  a  glorified  cliasse  or  shrine,  a  hallowed  casket, 
upon  which  were  lavished  all  the  riches  that  art 
and  industry  could  jjroduce  at  this  time. 

Saint-Louis  spared  nothing  to  make  the  Sainte- 
Chapelle  the  most  brilliant  jewel  of  his  realm. 
From  all  times  this  little  marvel  of  the  Moyen 
Age  has  been  considered  a  chef-d'oeuvre.  It  has 
a  lightness  and  fineness  in  its  ensemble,  a  research 
in  the  execution  of  its  details  and  accessories  un- 
equalled in  other  monuments  of  the  Xlllth  cen- 
tury, and  though  classed  as  belonging  to  the  first 
period  of  pointed  Gothic,  forms  almost  a  style 
apart. 

Into  the  plans  of  the  king,  Pierre  de  Montereau 
threw  himself  heart  and  soul.  The  speed  with 
which  the  work  was  conceived  and  executed, 
while  astonishing,  was  the  chief  contributing  fac- 
tor of  its  unity  and  completeness.  At  most, 
Viollet-le-Duc  assures  us,  the  erection  of  the 
chapel,    from   foundation   to   completion,   did   not 


Photo  X 


LOWER   CHAPEL.      SAIXTE-CHAPELLE. 


OUR   MOTHER   OF    SORROWS. 

TERRA    COTTA   PAINTED. 

FORMERLY   IN   THE    SAINTE-CHAPELLE, 

NOW    IN    THE    LOUVTIE. 


Photo  A.  Giraudon 


Photo   A 


INTERIOR   OF    THE    UPI'ER    CHAPEL.       SAINTE-CHAPEI.LE. 


THE  SAINTE-CHAPELLE  295 

exceed  five  years.  "  If,''  says  this  distinguished 
authority,  "  one  observe  with  scrupulous  attention 
the  archaeological  character  of  the  Sainte-Chapelle, 
one  is  forced  to  recognize  the  exactitude  of  these 
historic  dates.  The  method  of  construction  and 
ornamentation  belongs  to  this  minute  fraction  of 
the  Xlllth  century.  During  the  reigns  of 
Philippe  Auguste  and  Saint-Louis  progress  in 
architecture  was  so  rapid  that  a  period  of  five 
years  introduced  appreciable  changes;  whereas  in 
this  edifice  the  greatest  unity  reigns  from  base  to 
summit." 

To  the  pious  haste  which  the  king  showed  to 
enshrine  appropriately  the  precious  relics  of  which 
he  had  become  possessed,  the  population,  equally 
enthused,  added  its  vigorous  cooperation.  We  are 
to  suppose  that  skilled  workmen  considered  it  a 
privilege  to  contribute  their  labour  to  enhance  the 
splendour  of  the  reliquary  intended  for  the  chief 
treasures  of  the  Christian  world.  We  know  that 
eight  hundred  thousand  livres  touniois  (something 
over  two  and  a  half  millions  of  francs)  were  em- 
ployed in  the  construction  and  decoration  of  the 
chapel  and  in  the  acquisition  of  the  relics  it 
enclosed.  And  this  sum,  though  considered  of  a 
vastness  at  a  time  when  the  principal  chaplains 
were  esteemed  rich  upon  a  revenue  of  three  hun- 


296  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

dred  and  sixty-eight  francs,  must  have  gone 
largely  to  the  emperor  of  Constantinople,  from 
whom  the  relics  were  purchased,  and  for  the  raw 
material  employed. 

The  walls,  the  pillars,  the  columns  were  overlaid 
with  gold  and  illuminated  with  the  finest  and  most 
brilliant  of  colours,  incrusted  with  precious  stones 
and  embellished  with  choice  enamels;  while  the 
light  of  day,  itself,  was  admitted  through  the  im- 
mense windows  of  which  the  upper  story  seems 
entirely  composed,  only  after  having  been  passed 
through  precious  coloured  glass,  designed  with 
multiple  imagery,  in  dominating  notes  of  blue 
and  red. 

One  of  these  windows  recounts,  in  a  series  of 
sixty-seven  panels,  the  history  of  the  treasures  of 
the  Sainte-Chapelle  in  detail  from  the  time  that 
Baudouin  II,  fifth  Latin  emperor  of  the  Orient, 
decided,  in  1237,  to  cede  the  sacred  souvenirs  of 
the  Passion  of  Christ  to  Saint-Louis,  to  the  mo- 
ment of  their  triumphal  entry  into  the  repository 
prepared  for  them. 

History,  chronicles,  and  popular  tradition  tell 
with  what  demonstrations  of  piety  Louis  IX,  hav- 
ing secured  the  relics  for  France,  in  1239,  brought 
them  into  Paris.    It  was  the  poverty  of  the  impe- 


THE  SAINTE-CHAPELLE  297 

rial  treasury  of  Constantinople  that  induced 
Baudouin  to  sell  them  at  a  time  when  his  country 
was  menaced  by  wars  on  all  sides.  For  safety  the 
relics  had  been  already  confided  to  the  care  of  the 
Venetians  and  were  deposited  at  San  Marco. 
There  Saint-Louis  sent  an  escort  to  receive  them, 
and  setting  out  himself  with  his  queen,  his 
brothers,  various  bishops  and  other  dignitaries, 
met  the  procession  at  Villeneuve-l'Archeveque, 
near  Sens,  which  was  the  seat  of  the  archbishop 
of  the  diocese  of  Paris. 

Saint-Louis,  aided  by  his  brother,  the  comte 
d'Artois,  carried  on  his  shoulders  the  pavilion 
containing  the  Crown  of  Thorns,  and  thus 
charged,  clad  only  in  a  tunic,  he  trod  barefoot 
the  streets  of  Sens  and  Paris,  filled  with  a  re- 
ligious enthusiasm  which  later  he  was  to  employ 
against  the  infidels  in  the  Holy  Wars. 

Later,  in  1241,  he  carried  with  the  same  pro- 
found humility,  his  hands  covered  with  a  cloth, 
the  cross  of  gold  with  the  double  branch  received 
from  the  Byzantine  emperor.  The  relics  were 
placed  provisionally  in  the  chapel  of  Saint- 
Nicolas,  which  Louis  le  Gros  had  built  within 
the  walls  of  the  Palais. 

It   was    upon    the    site    of    this    chapel,    Saint- 


298  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Nicolas,  that  the  king,  finding  himself  possessed 
of  such  riches,  resolved  to  build  a  shrine  worthy 
of  their  reception. 

The  architect  of  the  Sainte-Chapelle  was  Pierre 
de  Montereau,  the  same  who  built  the  famous 
Virgin's  Chapel  of  the  abbey  of  Saint-Germain- 
des-Pres.  The  plan  is  simple  and  elegant,  the 
two  chapels,  one  over  the  other,  is  a  character- 
istic of  the  epoch.  Saint-Louis,  himself,  placed 
the  corner-stone,  in  1245,  and  on  April  25,  1248, 
the  chapels  were  consecrated,  the  upper  one,  re- 
served to  the  king  and  the  royal  family,  by  Eudes 
de  Chiiteauroux,  bishop  of  Tusculum,  the  pope's 
legate  in  France,  under  the  title  of  Sainte- 
Couronne  et  Sainte-Croix;  and  the  lower  chapel 
by  Philippe  Berruier,  bishop  of  Bourges,  under 
the  invocation  of  the  Sainte-Vierge.  The  lower 
chapel  served  for  officers  of  the  second  order  at- 
tached to  the  palace.  The  church  was  thus  divided 
into  two  floors  to  correspond  with  the  divisions  of 
the  palace,  the  proper  entrances  being  from  the 
palace  by  means  of  the  doubb  porch.  The  king 
thus  arrived  on  foot  without  going  outside. 

When  built  the  Sainte-Chapelle  stood  within  a 
wide  space  and  was  visible  in  its  ensemble  from  all 
sides.  Now  the  north  side  of  the  chapel  is  com- 
2)letely  masked   by  the  modern  Palais,   while  its 


THE  SAINTE-CHAPELLE  299 

free  parts  are  circumscribed  and  encroached  upon 
by  a  totally  irrelevant  and  hostile  environment. 
No  setting  could  be  less  promising,  no  approach 
less  inviting  than  this  restricted  court,  with  its 
heavy,  ugly  paving,  yielding  grudgingly  the  few 
square  feet  of  breathing  space  before  the  master- 
piece. 

Like  all  the  churches  of  the  Middle  Ages  the 
apse  of  the  Sainte-Chapelle  is  turned  towards  the 
east.  We  enter  the  enclosure  therefore,  from  the 
Boulevard  du  Palais,  from  the  rear  and,  walking 
about  close  to  the  stupid  buildings  which  imprison 
the  jewel,  arrive  by  dint  of  much  force  of  character 
and  imagination  to  see  the  building  a  little  as  Pierre 
de  Montereau  intended  it. 

As  a  chapel  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  the 
edifice  consists  of  a  choir,  without  nave  or  tran- 
septs. The  form  is  of  an  elegant  simplicity,  very 
compact,  essentially  a  chasse,  a  casket  on  a  large 
scale;  everything  in  its  design  and  in  its  details 
works  out  the  primal  thought,  that  we  have  before 
us  the  shrine  of  the  Crown  of  Thorns. 

Though  they  are  much  more  impressive  from 
w^ithin,  and  one  is  always  in  haste  to  get  inside, 
the  windows  even  from  without  are  the  first  thing 
which  strikes  the  attention.  The  whole  casket 
seems  at  first  to  be  made  of  leaded  glass,  the  whole 


300  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

of  this  precious  upper  chapel,  which  enclosed  the 
relics,  is  supported  entirely  by  its  short,  massive 
piers,  the  walls  with  their  lofty  windows,  just 
separated  by  slender  buttresses,  merely  enclose  the 
interior,  which  is  of  a  lightness  extraordinarily 
spiritual. 

Everything  in  the  exterior  points  upwards,  with 
an  effect  of  remarkable  elevation.  The  great 
height  of  the  building  is  very  striking.  The  but- 
tresses which  sustain  all  the  weight  of  the  vaulting 
rise  to  the  full  height  of  the  sides  between  the 
windows  and  terminate  in  rich,  foliated  pinnacles. 
Between  them  gables,  richly  sculptured,  surmount 
the  stupendous  height  of  the  windows.  The  roof 
is  extremely  sharp  and  from  its  centre  rises  the 
truly  exquisite  fleche,  though  a  third  restoration, 
which  seems  to  carry  the  spirit  soaring  to  the 
skies. 

Statues  of  eight  angels  carrying  the  instruments 
of  Passion  are  poised  between  the  gables  of  the 
second  story  of  the  spire,  and  in  the  bays  of  the 
lower  story  stand  the  twelve  apostles.  At  the 
ridge  of  the  apse,  upon  the  point  of  the  gable,  is 
an  angel  of  heroic  size,  in  lead,  holding  the  pro- 
cessional cross.  This  figure  turns  on  its  axis  by 
means  of  a  mechanical  device  and  shows  succes- 


THE  SAIXTP:-CHAPELLE  301 

siveh"  the  sjmibol  of  salvation  to  all  points  of  the 
horizon. 

This  spire  is  a  restoration  hy  Lassus.  The  first 
one,  jDlaced  by  JNIontereau,  having  crumbled  with 
age  was  succeeded  by  a  second,  under  Charles 
VI,  made  by  Robert  Fouchier.  The  second  spire 
was  consumed  by  fire  and  replaced  by  Louis 
XIIT,  in  1630.  The  third  spire  was  sacrificed  in 
the  Revolution,  and  the  present  erection  dates 
from  the  last  general  restoration  of  the  chapel 
under  Louis-Phili2)pe.  It  is  in  the  flowery  style 
of  the  second  half  of  the  XVth  century  and 
recalls  the  design  of  Fouchier. 

Geoffroy  Deschaume,  who  worked  upon  the 
restorations  of  the  facade  of  Notre-Dame,  mod- 
elled the  figures  of  this  fleche,  and  Guilhermy,  in 
a  very  complete  monograph  on  the  Sainte-Chapelle, 
tells  us  that  the  heads  of  the  apostles  are  portraits 
of  the  people  who  contributed  to  the  restoration  of 
the  chapel. 

The  principal  facade  shows  two  porches  which 
give  access  to  the  two  chapels,  surmounted  by  a 
balustrade,  above  which  is  the  great  rose  window, 
occupying  the  full  width  of  the  building.  Above 
this  again  is  a  balustrade  and  two  steeples  which 
accompany  the  pointed  gable.     On  the  points  of 


302  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

these  steeples  the  crown  of  thorns  is  placed  over 
the  royal  crown  of  France.  Mosl  of  the  facade 
above  the  porches  was  rebuilt  about  the  middle  of 
the  XVth  century,  under  Charles  VIII,  whose 
device,  crowned  by  two  angels,  occupies  the  middle 
of  the  second  balustrade.  The  rose  is  handsome 
in  the  flamboyant  style. 

The  entrance  to  the  lower  chapel  is  below  the 
present  level  of  the  court.  Needless  to  say  the 
sculpture  of  the  doorway  is  modern,  but  the  deco- 
ration of  the  stylobate,  containing  the  towers  of 
Castille,  in  honour  of  the  mother  of  Saint-Louis, 
and  tlie  fieurs-de-lys  of  the  blazon  of  France,  is 
the  same. 

The  lower  chapel  is  full  of  mystery  and  sugges- 
tion. Forty  short,  stout  pillars  sustain  the  vault- 
ing, of  which  the  keys,  in  sculptured  chestnut 
wood,  are  very  remarkable.  The  place  is  full  of 
obscurity,  since  but  little  light  penetrates  the 
handsome  triangular  windows.  The  floor  is  paved 
with  thirty-four  curious  tombstones  of  the  XlVth 
and  XVth  centuries,  carved  with  the  effigies  of 
treasurers  and  canons  of  the  chapel.  Boileau  the 
poet  was  buried  amongst  them — his  remains  after- 
wards removed  to  Saint-Germain-des-Pres — and 
amongst  the  famous  tombs  is  that  of  the  treasurer, 
Philippe  de  Rully,  who  died  in  1400. 


THE  SAINTE-CHAPELLE  303 

Old  engravings  of  the  building  show  an  external 
stairway  of  forty-two  steps,  which  mounted  by  a 
covered  way  to  the  upper  chapel,  though  as  we 
have  said  the  proper  entrance  was  through  the 
palace.  At  present  visitors  mount  by  the  tiny 
stone  spiral,  intended  for  the  service,  in  the  corner 
of  the  building  near  the  entrance. 

From    so    unpropitious    an    entrance,    climbing 
steeply,  one  arrives  suddenly  into  the  rear  right- 
hand   corner   of  the  upper   chapel.     Perhaps  the 
thing  to  do  is  to  walk  at  once  resolutely  out  upon 
the  porch  and  give  one's  self  the  treat  of  coming 
upon  the  rich  effect  of  the  chapel  as  Saint-Louis 
saw  it,  coming  from  the  palace,  but  this  is  some- 
thing I  have  scarcely  ever  had  the  courage  to  do. 
The  interior  so  immediately  grasps  and  holds  one. 
I  think  on  the  whole  that  the  effect  is  more  in  the 
spirit  of  the  building  when  approached  by  means 
of  this   old  medieeval   stairway,   this   mere   hatch- 
way,  whence,   debouching   into   the   heart   of   the 
exalted  chamber,  dazzled  by  the  pure  transparency 
of  the  windows  which  gleam  on  all  sides,  enveloped 
in  the  violet  radiance  compounded  of  the  dominant 
blue  and  red  rays  which  pierce  the  glass,  one  thinks 
to  one's  self,  in  the  words  of  Jean  de  Jandun,  "  rav- 
ished to  the  skies,"   "  introduced  into  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  chambers  of  Paradise." 


304  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Never  were  windows  more  jewel-like  than  these. 
One  seems  to  stand  in  a  palace  of  rubies  and  sap- 
phires, the  glass  is  so  pure  in  colour,  so  brilliant 
in  its  perfect  clarity.  One  is  first  struck  by  the 
immense  extent  of  the  windows  which  mount  to 
the  turn  of  the  vaultings  and  are  separated  only 
by  the  piers.  The  edifice  would  seem  to  have  but 
little  solidity  were  it  not  for  the  vigorous  tone 
of  its  glass  and  the  firm,  geometric  design  which 
give  it  a  fictitious  strength. 

Of  these  marvellous  and  magnificent  windows 
which  form  the  chief  interest  of  the  interior,  there 
are  fifteen — four,  wide  and  high,  fill  as  many  bays 
each  side  of  the  big  parallelogram,  seven  enclose 
its  apse,  the  narrower  bays  unfolding  in  a  half- 
circle  like  an  open  fan.  These  windows,  mutilated 
during  and  after  the  Revolution,  present  a  resto- 
ration, with  original  glass,  so  well  done  that 
Guilhermy  assures  us  that  Saint-Louis  and  Pierre 
de  Montereau  would  find  the  splendour  of  their 
glass  unchanged. 

As  I  write  the  task  of  remounting  the  windows, 
dismantled  during  the  great  war,  has  just  been 
accomplished.  As  a  rule  statistics  are  boring  and 
irrelevant,  our  purpose  being  appreciation  pure 
and  simple,  but  it  means  something,  I  think,  to 
know  that  it  took  six  weeks  to  take  the  windows 


THE  SAINTE-CHAPELLE  305 

out  and  eight  months  to  put  them  back.  Last 
summer  (1919)  after  the  signing  of  peace,  they, 
with  many  others,  were  exhibited  at  the  Petit 
Palais.  It  was  an  opportunity  that  may  never 
occur  again  to  study  them  at  close  range  and  to 
become  familiar  with  the  processes  of  such  expert 
work  and  the  rarity  of  the  ancient  materials. 
Subjects  barely  decipherable  in  place  were  readily 
distinguishable  and  a  wealth  of  faithful  work  was 
revealed. 

The  series  of  windows  begins  with  the  first  win- 
dow at  the  foot  of  the  nave  on  the  north  side.  Its 
ninety-one  subjects  cover  the  book  of  Genesis, 
depict  the  Creation,  Adam  and  Eve,  picture  the 
first  men,  the  Deluge,  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  and 
the  history  of  Joseph. 

Subjects  from  the  Old  Testament  fill  seven  win- 
dows of  the  nave  and  four  of  the  apse;  the  Gospel 
story  is  told  in  the  remaining  three  windows  of  the 
apse;  and  the  fifteenth  Avindow,  at  the  foot  of  the 
nave,  on  the  south  side,  is  devoted  to  a  series  of 
pictures  which  relate  in  careful  detail  the  story 
of  the  Cross  and  the  Crown  of  Thorns  with  their 
journey  from  Constantinople  to  Paris. 

This  window,  which  for  subject  is  most  interest- 
ing, has  sixty-seven  panels,  many  containing  rep- 
resentations  of   Saint-Louis,   his   brother   Robert, 


306  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

the  comte  d'Artois,  and  a  queen,  probably  Blanche 
de  Castille,  figures  many  tunes.  The  drawings 
are  the  work  of  artists  who  certainly  saw  the  re- 
ception of  the  relics  and  who  traced  the  chief  cir- 
cumstances which  passed  under  their  eyes.  Who 
shall  say  that  they  may  not  be  portraits  of  the 
principal  characters  as  well? 

Each  side  of  the  nave,  under  the  third  windows, 
is  a  deep  niche  let  into  the  wall,  over  which  a 
figure  of  Christ  in  an  attitude  of  benediction  is 
surrounded  by  angels,  bearing  censers.  These 
were  places  of  honour  reserved  for  the  king,  the 
queen,  and  the  royal  family.  The  oratory  of  the 
king  is  embellished  with  the  fleur-de-lys;  that  of 
the  queen  with  the  towers  of  Castille. 

The  altar  (destroyed)  was  placed  before  the 
slender  arcade  which  traverses  the  apse,  somewhat 
in  the  manner  of  a  rood-loft,  but  which,  differing 
in  intention,  scarcely  veils  the  sanctuary.  Seven 
light,  pointed  arches  are  carried  on  fine,  slender 
columns,  embellished  with  glass  mosaics  and  deco- 
rated with  angels,  gilded.  The  middle  arch,  wider 
than  the  others,  supports  a  platform  upon  which 
rests  the  baldaquin  of  sculptured  wood,  where  the 
relics  of  the  chapel  were  exposed.  The  chasse, 
sparkling  with  jewels,  thus  dominated  the  whole 
chapel,  and  when,  on  solemn  occasions,  its  panels 


THE  SAINTE-CHAPELLE  307 

were  partly  opened  to  show  the  treasures  of  the 
tabernacle,  it  was  like  a  radiant  apparition  of  the 
celestial  Jerusalem. 

Behind  the  arcade  two  spiral  stairways  in  wood 
mount  to  the  platform.  That  on  the  left  is 
original.  These,  we  are  told,  are  the  actual  treads 
which  Saint-Louis  climbed  piously  to  show  to  the 
people  below  the  Crown  of  Thorns. 

The  chasse  containing  the  great  relics  was 
locked  with  three  keys.  The  king  confided  one 
to  the  care  of  his  grand  chamberlain,  another  to 
the  treasurer  of  the  chapel,  and  the  third  was  kept 
by  his  goldsmith.  The  treasurer  was  usually  a 
personage  of  high  distinction.  He  wore  the  mitre 
and  the  ring,  and  is  named  in  different  deeds  as 
'^  le  pape  de  la  Sainte-Chapelle."  Besides  the 
treasurer  the  service  of  the  chapel  included  a 
precentor,  twelve  canons,  nineteen  chaplains,  and 
thirteen  clerks. 

Volumes  have  been  written  about  the  treasures 
of  the  Sainte-Chapelle,  with  a  brief  for  their 
authenticity.  They  included  many  curious  things 
such  as  the  robe  worn  by  tlie  infant  Jesus  which 
extended  itself  miraculously  with  his  growth,  the 
lance  which  pierced  his  side,  one  of  the  three 
nails,  some  blood  of  the  Saviour,  some  milk  from 
the  Virgin,  the  rod  of  Moses. 


308  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

After  the  death  of  Saint-Louis  the  skull  of  that 
monarch  was  added  to  the  collection,  incased  in  a 
handsome  reliquary  in  gilded  silver  made  by 
Guillaume  Juliani.  This  reliquary  consisted  of  a 
life-size  bust  of  the  king,  supported  by  four  angels, 
the  base  resting  upon  the  backs  of  four  lions,  and 
embellished  with  twenty-eight  royal  figures  with 
their  names.  The  souvenir  itself,  without  the 
reliquary,  had  belonged  to  the  treasury  of  Saint- 
Denis,  but  Philippe  le  Bel  obtained  permission  from 
the  pope  to  transfer  the  head  to  the  Sainte- 
Chapelle.  At  this  loss  the  Benedictines  of  the 
abbey  of  Saint-Denis  felt  so  aggrieved  that  the 
head  was  divided  and  the  lower  jaw  left  at  Saint- 
Denis.  The  transference  was  made  on  the  Tues- 
day after  Ascension  Day,  in  the  year  1306,  with 
extraordinary  pomp. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution  the  chasse 
was  sent  to  the  mint  to  be  melted  into  bullion,  its 
rich  jewels  were  cashed.  Notre-Dame  in  the 
course  of  time  received  the  sacred  relics.  The 
Bibliothcque  Nationale  was  accorded  the  celebrated 
antique  cameo  of  the  apotheosis  of  Auguste,  and 
the  bust  of  the  emperor  Titus  in  agate,  which  sur- 
mounted the  staff  of  the  precentor.  This  bust 
had  been  metamorphosed  into  a  likeness  of  Saint- 
Louis,  by  reason  cf  a  certain  inherent  resemblance, 


THE  SAIXTE-CHAPELLE  309 

and  thus,  rejoices  an  old  writer,  the  Roman  em- 
peror assisted  daily  at  the  service  of  the  Sainte- 
Chapelle,  holding  in  one  hand  a  little  cross  and 
in  the  other  a  crown  of  thorns.  "  Certes,  Ve7n- 
pertur  Titus  ne  s'y  atteudoit  pas! "  The  skull  of 
Saint-Louis  was  never  found. 

After  the  rites  of  consecration  of  a  church  the 
officiating  priest  traces  on  the  walls  or  columns 
twelve  crosses  to  be  afterwards  reproduced  per- 
manently. To  conserve  the  memory  of  the  con- 
secration of  the  Sainte-Chapelle  these  crosses  are 
carried  by  statues  of  the  twelve  apostles  placed  on 
consoles  adjusted  to  the  pillars.  The  fourth,  fifth, 
and  sixth  statues  on  the  north  and  the  third, 
fourth,  and  fifth  on  the  south  side  are  originals. 
Executed  in  hard  limestone,  covered  with  orna- 
ments, painted  and  gilded  in  imitation  of  rich 
stuffs,  set  off  by  borderings  of  precious  stones, 
these  figures  prove  the  strength  of  the  sculptors 
of  the  Xlllth  century  and  by  their  movement 
and  animation  and  the  eloquence  of  their  draperies 
show   a   distinct   awakening. 

The  great  rose  window  of  Charles  VIII  fills 
the  entire  west  wall  of  the  chapel,  and  below  it  is 
an  arcade  with  sculptures  representing  the  mar- 
tyrdoms. 

The  rose,  done  towards  the  end  of  the  XVth 


310  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

century,  has  not  the  hrillinncy  nor  vivacity  of 
the  other  windows  and  suffers  by  comparison. 
In  common  with  tlie  masters  of  his  epoch  the 
unknown  author  sacrifices  general  effect  to  de- 
tail and  instead  of  a  vigorous  mosaic  he  pro- 
duces a  series  of  compositions  which  must  be  re- 
garded closely  if  all  their  delicacy  is  to  be  seized. 
He  employs  tertiary  colours  in  charming  shades 
which  are  dissipated  by  the  passage  of  light 
through  them. 

The  seventy-nine  subjects  herein  contained  re- 
late to  the  Apocalypse,  and  are  readily  followed. 
The  vision  of  Saint  John  is  pictured  with  grace 
and  charm  which  merits  close  examination  in  de- 
tail, for  several  of  the  pictures  of  which  it  is 
composed  are  little  masterpieces  of  design  and 
execution. 

There  is  no  danger  that  the  loiterer  will  miss 
seeing  the  grill  set  obliquely  in  the  wall  on 
the  right-hand  side  of  the  upper  chapel,  built  by 
Louis  XI  in  order  that  he  could  hear  mass  and 
see  the  shrine  without  being  exposed.  No  guide 
will  permit  this  bit  of  history  to  be  overlooked, 
nor  the  fact  that  below  this  little  construction  was 
a  small  oratory  where  Saint-Louis  retired  to  hear 
the  office  recited  in  the  lower  chapel. 


THE  SAINTE-CHAPELLE  311 

In  the  second  bay  on  the  left  is  a  door  which 
communicated  with  an  external  gallery.  Noth- 
ing is  left  but  a  corridor  to  show  for  the  three- 
story  construction  built  by  Montereau  as  an 
annex  to  the  apse,  which  had  the  honour  to 
house  one  of  the  first  public  libraries  of  Europe. 
Geoffroy  de  Beaulieu,  counsellor,  aumonier,  and 
confessor  of  Saint-Louis,  recounts  that  when  the 
prince  was  in  Palestine  he  heard  of  a  Saracen 
sultan  who  searched  out  and  had  translated  at  his 
own  expense  books  of  all  kinds  which  could  be 
useful  to  the  savants  of  his  country,  collecting 
them  in  his  library  where  they  could  be  consulted 
without  difficulty. 

Saint-Louis  with  enthusiasm  set  about  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  similar  library.  He  had  copies 
made  of  the  manuscripts  of  the  different  abbeys, 
and  placed  them  in  a  room  contiguous  to  the 
chapel.  When  the  little  collection  was  installed 
he  placed  it  at  the  disposition  of  all  those  who 
wished  to  study,  coming  frequently  himself,  dur- 
ing his  hours  of  leisure,  to  the  library,  where,  find- 
ing sometimes  beside  him  subjects  whose  educa- 
tion was  inferior  to  his  own,  he  translated  for  them 
from  the  Latin  what  they  could  not  make  out. 
The    library    occupied    the    upper    story    of    this 


312  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

annex,  the  rooms  below  serving  as  sacristies.  This 
annex  was  suppressed  in  1776,  after  the  fire,  and 
was  sacrificed  to  the  extension  of  the  Palais. 

The  sculptures  of  the  upper  porch  are  restora- 
tions. The  Last  Judgment  is  the  subject  of  the 
tympanum  and  the  central  pier  of  the  door  sup- 
ports the  figure  of  Christ.  The  absorbingly  inter- 
esting features  of  the  porch  are  the  lozenge  reliefs 
to  the  right  and  left  of  the  portal,  which  represent 
with  a  delicious  naivete  on  one  side,  God  the 
Father  creating  the  world,  the  sun,  the  moon, 
light,  planets,  animals,  man,  etc.,  and,  on  the 
other,  the  story  of  Genesis,  Cain  and  Abel,  the 
Flood,  the  Ark,  Noah's  sacrifice,  Noah's  vine,  etc. 

Immediately  upon  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolu- 
tion the  Sainte-Chapelle  was  seized  and  made  to 
serve  as  a  club  and  later  as  a  granary,  then  as  a 
repository  for  the  archives  of  the  Palais.  At  this 
time  the  most  unpardonable  mutilations  of  the 
monument  occurred  when  three  metres  of  the 
windows  were  taken  out  in  order  to  place  the 
cases. 

Mutilated  within  and  without,  its  painting  and 
gilding  worn  off  or  obliterated  or  buried  under 
mould,  its  sculpture  broken,  deprived  of  its  spire, 
its  gables,  its  pinnacles,  balustrades,  and  steeples, 
the  building  was  so  far  gone  that  it  was  long  a 


THE  SAINTE-CHAPELLE  313 

question  of  demolition.  Louis  XVIII  and 
Charles  X  had  wished  vainly  to  restore  the  chapel 
of  their  ancestors,  and  finally,  in  1837,  in  the 
reign  of  Louis-Philippe,  the  long  contemplated 
reconstruction  was  begun.  The  work  was  first 
confided  to  Duban,  then  Lassus  and  Viollet-le-Duc 
were  added.  After  the  execution  of  the  most  press- 
ing work  Lassus  carried  the  work  to  completion. 

The  Louvre  retains  a  beautiful  statue  in  terra 
cotta  by  Germain  Pilon,  made  for  the  Sainte- 
Chapelle  during  the  Renaissance.  It  is  a  seated 
Virgin,  the  head  veiled,  the  hands  crossed,  in  an 
attitude  of  prayer.  It  still  bears  traces  of  a 
colouring  that  must  have  been  in  harmony  with 
the  chapel,  though  its  style  is  of  a  so  much  later 
epoch. 


CHAPTER  XV 
SAINT-DENIS:  THE  TOMBS 

The  beauties  of  Saint-Denis  are  not  to  be 
grasped  in  a  single  visit.  A  preliminary  trip,  to 
take  the  keen  edge  off  curiosity,  followed  by 
leisurely  promenades,  armed  with  a  permission 
from  the  Beaux-Arts,  which  enables  a  visitor  to 
prowl  about  without  the  annoyance  of  a  guide,  ^vill 
develop  the  amazing  interest  of  the  tombs. 

It  is  interesting  to  discriminate  between  the 
tombs  built  for  the  church,  to  cover  the  remains 
of  royalties  actually  interred  here,  and  that  greater 
mass  of  recumbent  figures,  funeral  stones,  and 
monuments  brought  here  from  demolished  churches 
after  the  disorders  of  the  Revolution. 

The  tombs  have  been  arranged  and  rearranged 
many  times,  carried  back  and  forth,  mutilated  and 
restored,  until  most  of  the  sentiment  concerning 
them  has  been  lost  and  they  seem  to  have  little 
connection  with  the  illustrious  dead,  so  shamefully 
desecrated.  The  statues  and  monuments  have  now 
the  air  of  exhibits  in  a  museum.  The  Revolution, 
in  permitting  any  of  them  to  stand,  after  its  first 

314 


SAINT-DENIS:  THE  TOMBS        315 

rage  was  appeased,  expressly  stipulated  that  it 
should  he  as  works  of  art  and  not  ohjects  of  pious 
veneration,  and  notwithstanding  the  regret  of  suc- 
ceeding generations  for  events  which  made  this 
church  the  theatre  of  orgiastic  revel  and  macahre 
festival,  the  spirit  of  the  Revolutionary  mandate 
has  stood. 

Imj^ressive  and  glorious  as  are  the  tombs,  even 
in  their  present  arrangement,  the  imagination 
needs  the  spur  of  much  reading-up  of  the  subject 
if  one  is  to  feel  the  true  import  of  the  royal 
sepulchre  in  the  face  of  actualities  so  strongly 
antipathetic.  Great  labels  are  affixed  to  each 
quiet,  mediaeval  effigy,  rendering  useless  but  not 
silencing  the  rigmarole  of  the  guide;  they  stand 
out  boldly  against  the  exquisite  sculpture,  and  to 
add  to  the  disillusionment  are  alternated  with 
similar  placards  inviting  the  public  to  refrain  from 
various  disgusting  practices;  and  these  with  the 
elaborate  fencings-off  to  keep  one  at  bay,  the 
intrusive  guards  with  their  unique  preoccupation 
— the  lavish  pourhoirc — make  a  constant  irritation 
which  it  is  difficult  to  rise  above.  It  is  a  thousand 
pities  that  it  must  be  so. 

We  must  understand,  of  course,  that  what  we 
see  at  Saint-Denis  is  only  a  part,  though  in  truth 
the  greater  part,  of  the  original  marvellous  collec- 


316  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

tion  of  royal  tombs,  and  that  it  has  been  greatly 
augmented  by  the  numerous  monuments  brought 
here  from  the  abbeys  of  Sainte-Genevieve,  Saint- 
Germain-des-Pres,  and  Royaumont;  from  the  con- 
vents of  the  Cordeliers,  Jacobins,  Celestins,  and 
other  religious  orders,  saved  by  the  individual  de- 
votion and  energy  of  Alexandre  Lenoir,  a  single 
private  citizen,  who  removed  them  personally  to 
the  museum  improvised  in  the  convent  of  the 
Petits-Augustins  for  safe  keeping  during  the 
Reign  of  Terror. 

The  Revolution  came  down  heavily  upon  Saint- 
Denis,  as  the  sepulchre  of  that  royalty  which  it 
had  determined  to  extirpate.  Much  has  been 
written  of  the  orgies  which  accompanied  the  viola- 
tion of  the  royal  tombs,  of  which  not  one  was 
spared,  every  grave  having  been  opened,  every 
vault  searched,  every  casket  emptied,  every  body 
rifled.  The  thing  was  done  with  hellish  thorough- 
ness, at  first  cursorily,  for  the  mere  pleasure  of 
wanton  destruction,  then  with  diabolic  system. 

During  the  seance  of  July  31,  1793,  Barrere 
presented  a  report,  in  the  name  of  the  redoubtable 
"  committee  on  public  safety,"  recommending,  in 
cele])ration  of  the  anniversary  of  August  10,  1792, 
the  day  when  the  monarchy  was  overthrown,  the 
annihilation   of  the   "  ostentatious   mausoleums   of 


SAINT-DENIS:  THE  TOMBS       317 

Saint-Denis,"  whose  beauty  constituted  "  a  form 
of  flattery  to  royal  pride." 

The  report  was  sanctioned  by  a  decree  of  the 
National  Convention,  and  the  real  fete  appears  to 
have  been  held,  as  ordered,  on  the  anniversary  of 
the  storming  of  the  Tuileries,  when  the  cream  of 
the  statues  and  monuments  was  cleared  out  of 
the  church,  when  the  "  powerful  hand  of  the  Re- 
public," to  use  Barrere's  phrases,  "  effaced  inex- 
orably the  superb  epitaphs  and  demolished  the 
monuments  which  recalled  the  frightful  souvenir 
of  the  kings." 

But  time  pressed  and  there  was  much  similar 
work  to  be  done,  so  it  was  not  until  after  Lequinio 
addressed  the  national  tribune,  more  than  a  month 
later,  denouncing  the  faihn'e  to  execute  the  decree 
which  ordered  the  entire  demolition  of  the  tombs 
of  "  our  tyrants  at  Saint-Denis,"  that  the  job  was 
finished.  In  the  meantime  some  protests  against 
the  vandalism  must  have  reached  the  ears  of  the 
directors,  for,  continues  Lequinio,  "  without  doubt 
in  destroying  these  remains  of  despotism  one 
should  preserve  the  artistic  monuments;  but  these, 
instead  of  being  made  objects  of  idolatry,  must 
serve  only  to  foster  admiration  and  emulation  of 
the  genius  of  the  artists." 

In  October,  1793,  the  undertaking  was  put  into 


318  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

the  hands  of  a  commttee  of  conscientious  persons 
who  spared  neither  time  nor  pains  to  search  every 
grave  and  every  vault,  overlooking  nothing,  and 
leaving  a  careful  report  of  their  proceedings  made 
by  a  no  less  competent  person  than  dom  Poirier, 
the  former  keeper  of  the  archives  of  Saint-Denis, 
and  one  of  the  dignitaries  of  the  abbey.  This  old 
Benedictine  has  left  a  cold,  colourless  account  of 
the  affair,  but  one  that  has  all  the  value  and  au- 
thenticity of  a  report  made  by  an  eyewitness. 
The  document  has  of  course  immense  historic 
value. 

The  work  began  on  October  12,  1793,  and  occu- 
pied exactly  a  month,  proceeding  as  we  have  said 
with  much  system.  As  gold  crowns,  jewels,  orna- 
ments, or  whatever  were  discovered  they  were 
turned  over  to  swell  the  national  treasury;  lead 
and  bronze  coffins  were  melted  into  arms  and 
ammunition  for  defence — the  nation  "  being  in 
peril " — while  the  bodies  of  the  kings,  queens, 
princes,  and  princesses — the  "  tyrans,  frappcs 
jusque  dans  leurs  tomheaujc" — were  thrown  into 
trenches  of  quicklime  and  destroyed  to  the  last 
vestige. 

On  the  first  day  the  vault  of  the  Bourbons  was 
opened,  in  one  of  the  chapels  of  the  crypt,  and 
the  first  casket  withdrawn  was  that  of  Henri  IV. 


SAINT-DENIS:  THE  TOMBS       319 

Dom  Poirier  notes  the  fact,  adds  the  date  of  the 
king's  death,  INIay  16,  1610,  and  his  age,  57  years, 
and  then  adds  that  the  body  was  in  excellent  pres- 
ervation, his  features  perfectly  recognizable,  and 
that  he  was  exposed  to  public  view  for  two 
days,  in  the  choir  at  the  foot  of  the  steps  which 
lead  up  to  the  sanctuary. 

Lamartine  has  left  a  vivid  picture  of  this  gro- 
tesque fete  during  which  the  people  raging  upon 
the  tombs  seemed  to  exhume  their  own  history  and 
throw  it  to  the  winds.  "  The  axe  l)roke  the  bronze 
doors,  the  gift  of  Charlemagne  to  the  basilica. 
Grills,  roof,  statues,  all  fell  in  debris  under  the 
hammer.  They  tore  up  the  stones,  violated  the 
vaults,  and  broke  open  the  caskets.  A  mocking 
curiosity  scrutinized,  under  the  shrouds  and  wrap- 
pings, the  embalmed  bodies,  the  dried  flesh,  the 
whitened  bones,  the  empty  skulls  of  kings,  queens, 
princes,  ministers,  bishops,  whose  names  had  re- 
sounded in  the  past  of  France.  Pepin,  the  founder 
of  the  Carlovingien  dynasty  and  the  father  of 
Charlemagne,  was  nothing  })ut  a  pinch  of  gray 
ashes  which  blew  away  in  the  wind.  The  mutilated 
heads  of  Turenne,  Duguesclin,  Louis  XII,  Fran- 
cois I,  rolled  upon  the  paving  of  the  parvis.  His- 
toric and  religious  emblems  and  attributes — 
sceptres,  crowns,  crosses,  were  trodden  underfoot. 


320  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

An  immense  trench  lined  with  quicklime  to  con- 
smne  the  cadavers  was  opened  in  one  of  the 
exterior  cemeteries,  called  the  chnitiere  des  Valois. 
Perfumes  burned  in  the  subterranean  passages  to 
purify  the  air.  After  each  blow  of  the  axe  were 
heard  the  acclamations  of  the  grave  diggers  who, 
uncovering  the  remains  of  a  king,  played  with  his 
bones.  .  .  ." 

"  Henri  IV,  embalmed  by  the  art  of  the  Italians, 
conserved  his  historic  physiognomy.  His  uncov- 
ered chest  still  showed  the  two  wounds  which  cost 
him  his  life.  His  beard,  perfumed  and  spread  like 
a  fan,  as  in  his  portraits,  attested  the  care  which 
this  voluptuous  king  had  for  his  person.  His 
memory,  dear  to  his  people,  protected  him  a  mo- 
ment against  profanation.  During  two  days  the 
crowd  filed  past  this  popular  cadaver.  Placed  in 
the  choir  at  the  foot  of  the  altar  he  received  in 
death  the  respectful  homage  of  these  mutilators 
of  royalty.  Javogues,  representing  the  people, 
was  indignant  at  this  posthumous  superstition. 
He  tried  to  show  in  a  few  words  that  this  king, 
brave  and  amorous,  had  been  rather  the  seducer 
than  the  servitor  of  his  people.  '  II  a  tro7n2)c,'  said 
Javogues,  '  Dieu,  ses  mnHr esses,  et  son  peuple; 
qu'il  lie  l7'ompe  pas  la  posterite  et  voire  justice.' 


SAINT-DENIS:  THE  TOMBS        321 

They  threw  the  cadaver  of  Henri  IV  into  the 
common  trench." 

His  son,  Louis  XIII,  and  his  grandson,  Louis 
XIV,  followed.  Louis  XIII  was  nothing  more 
than  a  mummy,  Louis  XIV  an  unrecognizable 
black  mass  of  aromatics.  Louis  XV  was  the  last 
drawn  from  the  vault  of  the  Bourbons.  This,  as 
it  happened,  was  at  eleven  o'clock  on  the  morning 
of  Wednesday,  16  October,  1793,  at  the  moment 
that  Marie-Antoinette  lost  her  head.  Dom  Poirier 
notes  the  coincidence  and  remarks  that  the  coffin 
of  Louis  XV  occupied  the  niche  at  the  entrance  of 
the  vault  where  it  was  customary  to  deposit  the 
body  of  the  last  king  while  awaiting  the  arrival 
of  his  successor,  when  he  was  carried  to  his  j)roper 
resting  place  in  the  vault. 

Louis  XV  died  of  small-pox  and  had  lain  some- 
thing short  of  twenty  years  in  the  vault  of  the 
Bourbons.  His  casket  was  opened  on  the  edge 
of  the  trench  in  the  cemetery.  "  The  infection  of 
his  reign  seemed  to  come  out  of  his  sepulchre," 
says  Lamartine,  and  he  was  quickly  thrown  into 
the  trench  and  covered  with  quicklime  and  earth, 
Avhile  they  burned  powder  and,  says  dom  Poirier, 
fired  a  few  shots  from  a  gun  to  purify  the  air. 

Turenne's  body,  mutilated  bv   shots,   was  ven- 


322  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

erated  by  the  people.  They  stole  it  and  it  lay 
hidden  for  nine  years  at  the  Jardin  des  Plantes, 
amongst  the  remains  of  stuffed  animals.  Napo- 
leon gave  him  a  military  burial  at  the  Invalides. 
But  Duguesclin,  Suger,  Vendome,  heroes,  abbots, 
ministers  of  the  monarchy,  were  precipitated  pcle- 
mcle  into  the  common  trench. 

The  monuments  in  metal  were  almost  all  melted 
down,  although  they  included  the  precious  recum- 
bent statues  of  Charles  le  Chauve,  the  tomb  of 
Marguerite  de  Provence,  the  mausoleum  of  Charles 
VIII,  and  the  effigy  of  the  sire  de  Barbazan,  signed 
by  Morant. 

What  Lenoir  had  saved  from  the  holocaust  he 
carted  with  enormous  difficulty  into  Paris.  The 
monastery  of  the  Petits-Augustins,  which  had  been 
founded  in  1609,  by  Marguerite  de  Valois,  the 
first  and  divorced  wife  of  Henri  IV,  was  chosen 
by  the  Constitutional  Assembly  at  the  moment  of 
the  suppression  of  monastic  orders  and  the  sale 
of  religious  houses,  as  a  place  of  deposit  for  monu- 
ments otherwise  without  shelter,  whose  preserva- 
tion might  present  an  interesting  study  of  art  or 
history. 

A  special  committee  was  charged  to  designate 
what  works  of  painting  and  sculpture  should  be 
gathered  up,  and  Alexandre  Lenoir,  an  artist  full 


SAINT-DENIS:  THE  TOMBS       323 

of  zeal  and  devotion,  who  had  pushed  the  measure 
through  the  Assembly,  was  commissioned  to  hunt 
up  the  monuments  and  to  take  charge  of  their 
transportation.  As  we  know,  he  spared  neither 
trouble  nor  fatigue,  and  several  times  risked  his 
life  for  the  menaced  monuments.  He  received  a 
bayonet  stroke  when  he  flung  himself  before  the 
tomb  of  cardinal  Richelieu  (now  at  the  Sorbonne) 
when  the  furious  mob  rushed  upon  it. 

The  convent  comprised  within  its  enclosure  a 
church,  a  cloister,  two  large  courts,  and  an  im- 
mense garden.  The  largest  monuments  and  those 
of  the  more  remote  epochs  were  put  in  the  church, 
and  the  others  ranged  according  to  their  centuries 
were  installed  in  a  number  of  rooms  decorated 
in  the  style  of  their  period  by  means  of  frag- 
ments of  architecture  gathered  up  from  the  ruins 
of  famous  ])uildings,  and  contemporary  stained 
glass.  Chapels,  sepulchres,  columns,  fountains, 
sarcophagi,  containing  the  remains  of  illustrious 
personages  stood  about  the  garden,  while  entire 
facades  brought  from  Anet,  from  Gaillon,  and 
other  chateaux  came  to  be  adjusted  on  the  sides 
of  the  principal  court,  where  some  are  still  to  be 
seen. 

But  large  and  commodious  as  was  this  monas- 
tery,   it   was  much   too   small   to   display   all   the 


324  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

treasures  poured  into  it,  and  a  mass  of  debris  was 
packed  provisionally  in  the  cellars. 

The  opening  of  this  Musee  National  des  Petits- 
Augustins  was  the  "15  fructidor,  An.  III." 
The  grandeur  of  the  ensemble  made  a  profound 
impression  upon  the  public,  people  began  to  de- 
plore the  ruin  of  so  many  treasures  of  antiquity, 
and  soon  the  tide  turned  against  the  iconoclasts  of 
1793.  Lenoir's  work  served  a  double  purpose  and 
from  it  dates  the  revival  of  appreciation  of  the  art 
of  the  Moyen  Age. 

More  than  twelve  hundred  objects  in  all  passed 
through  the  collection;  some  made  only  a  short 
stop  in  the  museum  and  were  quickly  restored  to 
their  original  places.  After  the  restoration  of  the 
cult  the  sacred  images  were  almost  all  reinstated 
in  the  churches  from  which  they  had  been  taken. 
All  that  we  most  admire  to-day  at  Saint-Denis, 
in  the  Louvre,  in  the  rooms  of  French  sculpture 
at  Versailles,  in  many  churches,  first  found  refuge 
at  the  Petits-Augustins. 

A  royal  ordonnance  of  December,  1816,  ordered 
the  closing  of  the  museum  and  the  restitution  of 
the  exhibits  at  the  government's  expense.  Either 
by  indifference  or  parsimony  the  churches  did  not 
hurry  their  claims  and  many  of  the  old  families 
of    France,    whose    chateaux    had    been    ruined, 


SAINT-DENIS:  THE  TOMBS       325 

showed  a  similar  negligence  and  failed  to  reclaim 
the  tombs  of  their  ancestors.  Thus  mausoleums 
of  kings  and  princes  were  transported  to  Saint- 
Denis  together  with  a  mass  of  unrelated  material, 
while  the  court  of  the  Beaux- Arts,  which  institu- 
tion succeeded  the  museum  in  the  reign  of  Louis 
XVIII,  is  still  rich  in  historic  souvenirs  of  this 
fateful  time,  precious  fragments  having  been  em- 
ployed in  the  decoration  of  the  new  buildings  of 
the  Ecole. 

Under  Yiollet-le-Duc  the  tombs  of  Saint-Denis 
were  arranged  somewhat  after  the  plan  of  their 
original  disposition.  Nothing  indigenous  to  the 
cathedral  is  earlier  than  the  time  of  Louis  IX, 
who  had  many  of  the  statues  of  his  predecessors 
made  at  the  time  that  he  rebuilt  the  church.  The 
famous  tomb  of  Dagobert,  usually  attributed  to 
Suger,  is  now  generally  accepted  as  a  century  too 
late  in  workmanship  to  have  been  done  under  his 
direction. 

Of  the  authentic  antiquities  we  have  the  tomb 
of  Clovis,  brought  from  the  destroyed  abbey  of 
Sainte-Genevieve;  it  lies  at  present  in  the  left 
transept,  one  looks  down  upon  it  as  one  mounts 
the  steps  to  the  ambulatory,  and  beside  it  lies  the 
funercil  stone  of  Childebert,  from  Saint-Germain- 
des-Pres,  of  whose  dignity  and  character  we  have 


326  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

already  spoken.  The  figure  has  a  style  and 
vivacity  lacking  in  the  heavier  effigy  of  Clovis, 
and,  holding  in  his  right  hand  the  apse  of  the 
church  which  he  built,  Childebert  seems  to  point  to 
it,  with  his  sceptre,  with  a  gesture  full  of  regal 
authority.  His  draperies  are  well  managed,  so  ar- 
ranged as  to  reveal  his  figure,  the  lines  of  which  are 
indicated  with  masterly  precision. 

The  funeral  stone  of  the  intrepid  Fredegonde, 
the  most  wicked  of  her  race,  also  from  Saint- 
Germain-des-Pres,  occupies  a  sheltered  position 
on  the  right-hand  side  of  the  sanctuary,  an  honour 
due  to  its  great  antiquity  and  its  value  as  a  work 
of  art.  The  longer  one  examines  this  beautiful 
relic  the  more  possible  does  it  seem  that  it  does 
indeed  date  from  the  epoch  of  the  queen  herself, 
which  would  place  it  as  early  as  the  beginning  of 
the  Vllth  century  and  make  it  older  by  some  five 
centuries  than  the  statue  of  Clovis,  made  in  the 
Xllth  century,  and  otherwise  the  dean  of  the 
collection.  No  description  yet  written  has  done 
justice  to  it,  no  drawing  suggests  its  venerable 
mystery.  The  stone  mosaic  is  exceedingly  fine 
and  hard,  while  the  expressive  outlines  in  gilded 
copper,  the  elaborate  embellishments  of  the  robe 
and  the  border  of  the  stone,  indicate  an  affinity 
with  the  antiquities  of  Persia. 


DAGOBERT'S   TOAIB.      SAINT-DENIS. 

TO    THE    RIGHT    THE   VII TH    CENTURY    STATUE   OF 

THE   VIRGIN    FROM    SAINT- JIARTIN-DESCHAMPS. 


Photo  A.  Giraudon 


SAINT-DENIS:  THE  TOMBS       329 

The  beautiful  tomb  of  Dagobert,  exiled  upon  its 
return  to  Saint-Denis  to  the  porch  of  the  nave, 
has  been  put  back  in  its  place  of  honour  to  the 
south  of  the  high  altar.  Viollet-le-Duc  has  re- 
paired so  far  as  was  possible  the  vandalism  of 
the  architect  of  the  restitution,  and  restored  the 
tomb  to  its  original  form,  that  of  an  ogival  chapel 
with  a  double  face,  graceful  and  elegant  in  shape 
and  solidly  constructed  in  sand-stone.  When  the 
monument  was  first  brought  back  to  Saint-Denis 
it  was  cut  in  two  and  its  two  faces  set  in  opposing 
ends  of  the  porch  to  balance  one  another  as  the 
tombs  of  Dagobert  and  his  wife  Nantilde. 

Dagobert  died  in  the  abbey  of  Saint-Denis,  in 
638,  and  his  body,  carefully  embalmed,  was  in- 
terred in  the  church.  We  know  nothing  of  the 
manner  of  the  first  tomb  which  covered  the  re- 
mains. The  present  monument  has  been  re- 
mounted upon  the  original  sarcophagus  in  gray 
marble,  decorated  with  sixteen  jleurs-de-lys,  upon 
which  lies  a  modern  effigy  of  the  king,  supported 
on  the  two  sides  by  modern  statues  of  Nantilde 
and  one  of  the  two  princes,  probably  Clovis  II. 

The  tall,  pointed  bay  above  the  recumbent 
figure  is  filled  with  lively  sculpture  based  upon 
the  vision  of  a  hermit,  called  John,  and  consid- 
ered in  the   IXth  century  as   a  veritable  revela- 


330  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

tion.  The  vision  came  to  the  hermit  on  the  day 
of  Dagobert's  death.  At  this  time  John,  sleep- 
ing in  his  hut,  on  the  sea-coast,  was  approached 
in  his  dream  by  a  man  of  imposing  aspect — a 
bishop,  some  say  Saint-Denis — who  bade  him  rise 
quickly  and  pray  for  the  soul  of  the  king  Dago- 
bert  just  dead.  Scarcely  had  the  hermit  responded 
when  he  saw  upon  the  sea  the  king  maltreated 
by  a  group  of  demons  who  had  tied  him  in  a 
barque,  and  were  conducting  him  to  the  cave  of 
Vulcan.  In  the  relief  the  soul  of  Dagobert  is 
represented  as  a  nude  figure,  wearing  a  crown. 
Dagobert  in  his  distress  invokes  the  assistance  of 
Saint-Denis,  Saint-Maurice,  and  Saint-Martin, 
whom  he  had  particularly  loved,  and  the  three 
saints,  in  the  midst  of  a  mighty  tempest,  rush  at 
once  to  rescue  the  soul  of  the  king  from  the 
demons. 

The  bay  is  divided  into  three  panels.  The  first 
represents  the  hermit  asleep  in  his  cave  with  the 
bishop  bending  over  him.  An  oak  tree  separates 
this  picture  from  the  rest,  in  which  we  see  Dago- 
bert standing  in  the  boat  upon  the  waves,  receiving 
a  flogging  from  the  hands  of  the  devils,  while 
others  row  and  push  and  pull  the  boat  towards 
Vulcan's  cave.  The  second  panel  shows  the 
demons  frustrated  while  Dagobert  is  received  by 


SAINT-DENIS:  THE  TOMBS       331 

the  saints  accompanied  by  angels  with  censers. 
In  the  third  panel  the  three  saints  hold  Dagobert 
upon  a  sheet  by  which  they  lift  him  to  celestial 
spheres,  while  the  hand  of  God  appears  through 
a  cloud  surrounded  by  angels. 

The  sculpture  is  crisp  and  full  of  vivacity,  and 
except  for  the  three  modern  figures  the  monument 
is  one  of  the  handsomest  of  its  epoch. 

Close  by  this  tomb  is  the  seated  figure  of  the 
Virgin  with  the  Christ  upon  her  knees,  from  the 
church  of  Saint-]Martin-des-Champs.  The  statue 
is  in  wood  and  we  see  traces  of  painting  upon  it. 
Its  character  is  unusual  and  its  antiquity  con- 
vincing. Its  epoch  is  unknown,  but  Lenoir,  who 
saved  it  and  who  mentions  it  in  the  catalogue  of 
his  museum,  thinks  it  may  be  as  early  as  600. 

Amongst  the  many  recumbent  figures  that  of 
the  Countess  INIarguerite  d'Artois  is  considered  a 
fine  example  of  grace  and  elegance  of  the  Moyen 
Age;  "  le  XIV^  siecle  na  jamais  He'mieux  inspire, 
et  71  a  jamais  produit  une  plus  ravissante  statue 
de  femme,"  was  Guilhermy's  verdict.  The  effigy 
lies  side  by  side  with  that  of  Louis,  comte  d'Artois, 
son  of  Philippe  le  Hardi,  buried  in  the  church  of 
the  Jacobins  in  Paris,  and  the  statues  came  to 
Saint-Denis  by  the  usual  route. 

That  the  two  statues  are  not  by  the  same  hand 


332  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

is  evident;   there   is   a  dulness   about  that  of  the 
count,    as    in   many    of    these    recumbent    figures, 
made  from  memory  or  data  after  death.     But  the 
effisv   of   Marguerite   has   none   of  that  perfunc- 
toriness;  the  sculptor  has  been  moved  by  his  sub- 
ject and   presents   the  woman  as   she   must  have 
been  in   hfe,  yet  with   all  the  mystery  of  death. 
Not  only  is   the   face,   partially   enveloped   in   its 
veils,   an  exquisite  bit   of  modelhng,   not  only   is 
the  charming  form  revealed  with  the  most  perfect 
art,    though    these    are    the    essential    points,    her 
very  clothes  express  the  fineness  and  charm  of  this 
woman  and  the  love  which  the  sculptor  put  into 
his  work.     She  rests  in  a  simple  pose,  the  hands 
joined  as  if  in  prayer.     The  chin  is  supported  in 
a  veil  which,  carried  to  the  brim  of  the  coif,  falls 
aw-ain  in  straii^ht  lines  to  her  shoulders.     The  coif 
bears  a  discreet  coronet  and  under  this  a  few  locks 
of  hair  soften  the  face.     The  robe  is  very  plain 
across  the  chest  but  falls  in  ample  folds  about  the 
feet;   one   cannot  too   much  admire  the   art   with 
which   the    sculptor   has   handled   this    sumptuous 
drapery.      At  her   feet   two   sprightly   little   dogs 
play  upon  a  tuft  of  oak  leaves. 

The  three  great  monuments  of  Saint-Denis  are 
the  Renaissance  tombs  of  Louis  XII  and  Anne 
de  Bretagne,  rran9ois  I  and  Claude  de  France, 


EECUMBENT   FIGURES    OF   LOUIS    AND 
IIAKGUERITE    D'ARTOIS.       KAIM-UENIS 
AFTER   A   PEN    DRAWING. 


Photo  A.  Giraudan 


riioto  A.  Giruudon 


TOMB    OF    I.OUIS    XII    AND    ANXE    Dli    IJUIOTAGNP:. 
BY   JEAN    JUSTE   OF   TOUKS.      SAINT-DEMS. 


DETAIL  FROM  THE 
TOMB   OF  FRAXgOIS   I 
AND  CLAUDE  DE 
FRANCE   AT 
SAINT-DENIS. 


Photo  X 


SAINT-DENIS:  THE  TOMBS        835 

and  Henri  II  and  Catherine  de  Medicis.  With 
these  three  magnificent  monuments,  made  for  the 
cathedral,  may  be  classed  the  tomb  of  the  House 
of  Orleans  and  the  column  of  Fran9ois  II  brought 
from  the  Church  of  the  Celestins;  the  column  of 
Henri  III  from  Saint-Cloud;  the  urn  made  to 
contain  the  heart  of  Francois  I,  from  the  abbey 
of  Hautes-Bruyeres,  and  the  sumptuous  effigies 
of  Henri  II  and  Catherine  de  ]\Iedicis  by  Germain 
Pilon,  from  the  estate  of  the  sculptor. 

In  these  monuments  we  may  trace  the  birth  of 
French  Renaissance  from  its  roots,  in  the  art  of 
Italy,  until  its  ultimate  fruition  under  Francois  I 
and  Henri  II  in  the  work  of  such  a  glorious  group 
as  the  sculptors  Jean  Goujon,  Germain  Pilon, 
Pierre  Bontemps  and  the  celebrated  architect, 
Philibert  Delorme, 

Examining  these  monuments  in  chronological 
order  the  first  to  command  attention  is  the  elabo- 
rate and  beautiful  tomb  erected  by  Louis  XII,  the 
son  of  Charles,  due  d'Orleans,  to  his  grand- 
parents, Louis  de  France  and  Valentine  de  Milan, 
to  his  father,  and  to  his  uncle,  Philippe  comte  de 
Vertus.  In  addition  to  its  artistic  importance  this 
monument  is  of  great  historic  value  as  immortaliz- 
ing the  memory  of  the  Orleans  from  whom  were 
descended  the  great  kings  of  the  period  of  French 


336  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Renaissance,  for  from  Louis  XII  onward  we  pass 
to  a  time  of  rich  artistic  development,  shown  as 
well  in  sculpture  as  in  architecture,  not  only  in 
Paris  but  better  preserved  in  the  chateaux  of 
France. 

Louis  IX  was  a  builder,  he  has  left  us  at  least 
one  great  masterpiece — the  Sainte-Chapelle.  After 
him  Charles  V  figures  brilliantly  as  a  builder  of 
royal  residences — it  was  he  who  erected  the  Hotel 
Saint-Pol,  and  it  was  he  who  first  adopted  the 
Louvre  as  a  royal  residence.  Now  Louis,  due 
d'Orleans,  was  the  second  son  of  Charles  V.  He 
built  the  chateaux  of  Pierrefonds  and  la  Ferte- 
Milon.  His  history  was  full  of  incident  and  ended 
in  tragedy.  While  his  brother,  Charles  VI,  occu- 
pied the  throne  of  France,  Louis,  due  d'Orleans, 
iachoit  de  desennuyer  the  queen,  Isabeau  de 
Baviere,  in  her  house  in  the  Marais,  the  Hotel 
Barbette. 

On  the  evening  of  November  23,  1407,  while 
Queen  Isabeau,  magnificently  gowned  and  wear- 
ing a  headdress  en  comes  merveilleuses,  liautcs  et 
longues  enchasses  de  pierries,  was  dining  inti- 
mately with  her  brother-in-law,  a  royal  valet 
entered  and  announced  that  the  king  desired  the 
duke  to  come  to  him  at  once  as  he  wished  to  speak 
to  him   on  matters   of  utmost   importance.      The 


SAINT-DENIS:  THE  TOMBS       337 

queen  was  full  of  fears,  but  the  duke  smis  chaperon 
apres  avoir  mis  sa  houppelande  de  damas  noir 
fourre,  hurried  out,  playing  with  his  glove  as  he 
went,  and  mounted  his  mule,  accompanied  by  two 
squires  mounted  on  the  same  horse,  a  page,  and 
three  running  footmen  with  torches.  Raoul 
d'Octouville,  former  treasurer,  who  had  been  dis- 
missed from  his  post  by  the  duke,  was  waiting  in 
the  shadow,  accompanied  by  seventeen  armed  men, 
and  instantly  rushed  upon  him  with  cries  of  ''  A 
mort!  a  mort! " 

By  the  first  blow  of  his  axe  Raoul  d'Octouville 
cut  off  the  hand  with  which  the  duke  guided  his 
mule,  a  second  blow  split  his  head.  The  duke  cried 
vainly,  "  Je  suis  le  due  d'Orlcans  " ;  no  help  was 
proffered  and  he  soon  tottered  and  fell.  One  of 
his  servants  fell  upon  the  prostrate  body  and  was 
killed  on  the  sj^ot.  As  the  death  was  accomplished 
a  hooded  figure  emerged  from  the  neighbouring 
Hotel  Notre-Dame,  and  cried:  "Extinguish  your 
lights  and  escape."  At  the  funeral  of  the  duke 
the  next  day  in  his  chapel  at  the  Celestins  the 
same  figure  was  recognized;  it  was  the  due  de 
Bourgogne,  Louis's  first  cousin. 

The  body  of  the  due  d'Orleans  reposed,  without 
a  monument,  under  the  altar  of  the  chapel  at  the 
Celestins,   which  he  had   founded   and   richly   en- 


338  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

dowed,  until  his  grandson,  Louis  XII,  in  1504, 
erected  the  superb  mausoleum,  of  which  what  we 
see  at  Saint-Denis  is  the  reassemblage.  This  tomb 
stood  in  the  centre  of  the  Ckapelle  d'Orleans,  sur- 
rounded by  a  number  of  other  funeral  monuments, 
forming  in  their  ensemble  one  of  the  most  precious 
museums  of  the  world.  These  included  the  statue 
of  the  admiral  Philippe  de  Chabot,  by  Jean 
Cousin;  the  group  of  the  Three  Graces  (the  urn 
which  they  support  intended  to  contain  the  heart 
of  Henri  II),  the  work  of  Germain  Pilon;  the 
columns  of  Anne  de  Montmorency,  of  Francois  II, 
and  of  Timoleon  de  Brissac;  the  Longueville 
obelisk,  chiselled  with  reliefs  and  surrounded  by 
statues;  the  tomb  of  Rene  d'Orleans,  of  which 
Saint-Denis  treasures  the  fragments,  and  that  of 
Henri,  due  de  Rohan,  sculptured  by  Michel 
Anguier.  The  dispersal  of  this  sculpture  and  the 
destruction  of  the  chapel  which  enclosed  it  were 
among  the  most  wanton  acts  of  vandalism  of  the 
past  century.  The  whole  was  sacrificed  to  the 
cutting  through  of  the  Boulevard  Henri  IV  in 
1847-48. 

The  convent  of  the  Celestins  was  founded  by 
Charles  V,  who  laid  the  corner-stone  in  1365. 
This  stone  is  now  at  the  Musee  de  Cluny. 
Charles  V  and  his  son  loaded  the  foundation  with 


SAINT-DENIS:  THE  TOMBS        339 

riches,  and  after  the  abbey  church  of  Saint-Denis 
none  other  in  France  was  so  rich  in  wonderful 
monuments  to  the  ilkistrious  dead. 

Of  the  identity  of  the  sculptor  who  achieved  the 
noble  tomb  of  the  House  of  Orleans,  nothing  is 
known.  It  antedates  the  tomb  of  Louis  XII  by 
about  fifteen  years,  but  since  its  style  is  even 
more  advanced  than  that  of  the  later  monument 
it  has  been  thought  that  Louis  XII  commissioned 
some  able  Italian  sculptor  to  design  and  model  it. 

The  design  is  original  and  logical.  Upon  a 
large,  square  platform  supported  by  short  columns 
between  which  are  niches  with  figures  of  apostles 
and  martyrs,  lie  the  effigies  of  the  brothers, 
Charles  and  Philippe.  Between  these  stands  a  sar- 
cophagus upon  which  lie  the  recumbent  figures  of 
the  grandparents,  Louis  and  Valentine. 

Charles,  due  d'Orleans,  the  father  of  Louis 
XII,  was  the  poet  who  languished  a  prisoner  at 
Windsor  for  twenty-five  years  after  the  battle 
of  Agincourt.  All  four  statues  show  the  ablest 
of  sculpture  and  much  charm  of  historic  detail; 
that  of  Charles,  except  for  the  hands,  which  are 
restored,  is  of  unusual  beauty  and  elegance.  At 
his  feet  the  little  porcupine,  cut  with  spirit  and 
full  of  character,  recalls  the  order  founded  by 
Charles  d'Orleans,  of  which  this  little  animal  was 


340  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

the  emblem.  It  figures  frequently  upon  the  monu- 
ments of  his  son  Louis  XII. 

The  Orleans  monument  undoubtedly  inspired  a 
style  of  which  the  magnificent  tomb  of  Louis  XII 
and  Anne  de  Bretagne  was  the  development,  and 
the  still  more  sumptuous  tombs  of  Francois  I  and 
Henri  II  the  arrival.  It  was  Franc^ois  I,  the  suc- 
cessor of  Louis  XII,  who  erected,  at  Saint-Denis, 
this  handsome  mausoleum  to  his  father-in-law. 
(Francois  I  married  Claude  de  France,  daughter 
of  Louis  XII.)  Its  authorship,  after  much  un- 
certainty, has  been  established  and  Jean  Juste,  of 
Tours,  sculptor-in-ordinary  to  the  king,  is  credited 
with  the  work,  aided  by  his  brother  Antoine. 

These  two  sculptors,  locally  famous  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Renaissance,  worked  for  the  car- 
dinal dAmboise  upon  the  sculptures  of  the 
chateau  de  Gaillon  and  have  left,  in  the  cathedral 
of  Tours,  a  charming  souvenir  of  their  talent  in 
the  tomb  of  the  children  of  Charles  VIII  and 
Anne  de  Bretagne.  The  little  boy  and  girl  lie 
side  by  side  on  a  slab  of  black  marble,  and  two 
pairs  of  small  kneeling  angels,  at  their  heads  and 
their  feet,  watch  over  them.  The  tomb  is  embossed 
with  symbolic  dolphins  and  exquisite  arabesques. 

So  little  is  definitely  known  of  these  early 
sculptors    that    one    can    only    conjecture.      The 


SAINT-DENIS:  THE  TOMES       341 

Justes  are  thought  to  have  been  of  Florentine 
origin  (Giusto)  and  the  monument  in  the  details 
of  its  sculpture  shows  strongly  the  influence  of  the 
Italian  Renaissance,  as  well  as  reminiscences  of 
the  antique.  Its  architecture,  however,  shows  the 
superiority  of  the  French  architecture  of  the 
j)eriod. 

The  tomb  is  in  the  form  of  a  sizable  edifice,  in 
the  style  of  a  temple,  open  on  the  four  sides,  and 
covered  by  a  roof.  Within  the  edifice  is  the 
sarcophagus,  upon  which  lie  the  effigies  of  the 
king  and  queen,  entirely  nude;  while  upon  the 
roof,  or  platform  raised  upon  twelve  arches,  are 
kneeling  statues  of  the  pair  in  ceremonial  robes. 
The  twelve  arches  are  divided  by  sixteen  pilasters, 
the  two  faces  entirely  covered  with  arabesques  of 
exquisite  chiselling  and  worthy  of  thorough  exam- 
ination. Amongst  vases  and  horns  of  abundance, 
leafage,  heads  of  angels,  winged  figures,  griffons, 
serpents,  swans,  sphinxes,  birds,  bulls'  heads,  in- 
struments of  music,  arms  and  funereal  attributes, 
one  deciphers  the  monogram  of  Louis  and  Aime, 
the  arms  of  France,  and  the  salamander  of 
Francois  I. 

Under  each  of  the  twelve  bays  formed  by  the 
arcade  is  seated  the  statue  of  an  apostle,  very 
much  restored  from  the  mutilations  of  the  Revo- 


342  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

lution;  and  at  the  angles  sit  the  four  cardinal  vir- 
tues, readily  recognized  by  their  ordinary  symbols. 

Between  these  figures  the  base  of  the  monument 
is  decorated  with  four  bas-reliefs,  the  subjects 
drawn  from  the  history  of  the  wars  of  Louis  XII 
in  Italy,  worked  out  with  considerable  fidelity  to 
fact,  and  extremely  beautiful  in  their  surfaces, 
modelled  w^ith  great  fluency.  One  can  see  here 
influences,  perfected  in  the  reliefs  upon  the  monu- 
ment to  Henri  II,  which  have  spread  to  our  own 
day. 

The  arcade  carries  a  platform,  under  which  is 
the  ceiling  of  the  mortuary  chamber,  a  ceiling  in 
handsome  caissons,  ornamented  each  with  a  dif- 
ferent rose.  This  shelters  the  sarcophagus  upon 
which  lie  the  forms,  rigid  as  in  death,  of  Louis 
XII  and  his  consort,  Anne  of  Brittany,  done  with 
much  realism.  The  king's  face  presents  the  pain- 
ful alterations  characteristic  of  dead  faces,  the  con- 
traction of  the  lips,  the  prominence  of  the  bones, 
the  dryness  of  the  flesh.  The  queen,  her  head 
thrown  back  upon  her  pillow,  keeps  more  grace 
and  charm. 

The  figures  posed  upon  the  top  of  the  monu- 
ment kneel  on  cushions  before  pric-Dieu.  Each 
wears  the  ermine  mantle  of  royalty  and  the  two 


SAINT-DENIS:  THE  TOMBS       343 

statues  are  considered  to  have  been  faithful  por- 
traits. 

The  tomb  of  Fran9ois  I,  which  forms  a  more 
than  worthy  companion  monument  to  that  of 
Louis  XII,  stands  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
cathedral,  and  of  the  three  similar  Renaissance 
tombs  is  the  largest  and  most  elaborate.  Its 
architect  was  Philibert  Delorme,  the  royal  effigies 
have  been  attributed  to  Jean  Goujon,  the  reliefs 
to  Pierre  Bontemps,  and  the  other  sculptural  de- 
tails to  Germain  Pilon,  Ambroise  Perret,  Jacques 
Chantrel,  Pierre  Bigoine,  Bastien  Galles,  and 
Jean  de  Bourges.  Thus  the  monument  combines 
the  work  of  the  most  illustrious  group  of  sculptors 
of  the  French  Renaissance,  directed  by  the  cele- 
brated architect  of  the  Tuileries. 

The  general  disposition  of  the  monument  cor- 
responds to  that  of  its  prototype  and  its  details 
are  even  richer  and  more  splendid.  The  base  is 
ornamented  with  a  similar  relief,  in  four  panels, 
representing  the  military  achievement  of  Francois 
I,  including  the  campaign  of  Marignan  in  twenty- 
one  reliefs,  the  triumphal  entry  of  Francois  into 
INIilan,  the  Battle  of  Cerisoles  with  the  events 
which  preceded  it  and  those  which  followed. 
These  panels  in  very  low  relief,  containing  a  mul- 


M4>  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

titiide  of  figures,  are  extraordinary  in  their  elo- 
quent flatness.   They  have  the  quahty  of  paintings. 

A  vaulted  chamber,  the  ceiling  in  caissons, 
rounded,  like  a  canopy,  occupies  the  principal 
part  of  the  monument,  and  contains  the  two 
sarcophagi,  upon  which,  side  by  side,  lie  the  nude 
figures  of  the  king  and  his  consort.  The  XVI th 
century  has  produced  no  more  noble  sculpture  than 
these  impressive,  naturalistic  figures,  worthy  in- 
deed of  their  supposed  author,  Jean  Goujon. 
Francois  I  is  represented  in  all  the  majesty  of 
death,  the  head  nobly  conceived,  the  body  modelled 
with  great  distinction  and  elegance.  Beside  him 
the  sculptor  has  carved  a  more  tender,  subtle 
figure  of  Claude  de  France,  who  died  in  the  flower 
of  her  youth    (at  twenty-five  years,  in  1524). 

Five  figures,  kneeling  upon  the  platform  which 
covers  the  tomb,  represent  the  king  and  queen  in 
ceremonial  robes,  the  dauphin  Fran9ois,  Charles, 
due  d'Orleans,  and  Charlotte  de  France,  who  died 
at  eight  years.  The  king  and  queen  kneel  before 
prie-Dieu  ornamented  with  their  initials,  F  and  C, 
under  crowns.  The  dauphin  and  the  due  d'Orleans 
are  the  work  of  Pierre  Bontemps. 

Immediately  behind  this  monument  stands  the 
magnificent  marble  urn  brought  here  after  the 
Revolution  and  made  for  the  abbey  of  Hautes- 


SAINT-DENIS:  THE  TOMBS       345 

Bruyeres,  by  Pierre  Bontemps.  Fran9ois  I  died 
at  the  chateau  of  Rambouillet  and,  according  to 
the  custom,  his  heart  and  intestines  were  taken  to 
the  abbey  of  Hautes-Bruyeres,  which  is  near  Ram- 
bouillet, the  intestines  buried  and  the  heart  placed 
in  a  cliasse,  upon  a  column  of  alabaster.  The  vase 
with  its  pedestal  was  saved  by  Alexandre  Lenoir, 
and  is  considered  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
works  of  renaissance  sculpture. 

The  tomb  of  Henri  II  and  Catherine  de  INIedicis, 
which  to  the  writer  has  always  appealed  as  the 
ripest  and  richest  of  the  Renaissance  tombs  under 
consideration,  is  the  work  of  one  hand.  Germain 
Pilon  designed  it  and  directed  its  execution,  him- 
self making  the  most  important  parts. 

The  tomb  was  designed  to  stand  isolated  in  a 
chapel  of  its  own  constructed  by  Philibert  De- 
lorme  under  the  direction  of  Catherine  de  Medicis. 
It  was  removed  to  the  north  transept  of  the 
cathedral  in  1719,  when  the  chapelle  des  Valois 
was  destroyed.     . 

Following  the  type  of  the  Louis  XII  tomb,  the 
monument  contains  kneeling  figures  of  the  king 
and  queen  upon  its  roof,  while  underneath  the 
nude  forms  of  the  same  lie  upon  their  shrouds 
in  attitudes  of  sleep  rather  than  death.  By  the 
time   that   this   statue   was   made   every   trace   of 


346  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Gothic  feeling  had  died  out.  In  the  effigy  of 
Louis  XII,  full  of  the  horror  of  death,  we  feel 
still  something  of  the  Gothic  spirit  which  dwelt 
upon  the  ugly  facts,  the  punishments,  and  supersti- 
tions of  the  faith.  But  with  the  accomplishment 
of  the  Renaissance  all  was  beauty,  and  Germain 
Pilon,  who  was  the  most  suave  of  the  sculptors  of 
his  epoch,  has  robbed  death  of  all  sting. 

The  king  is  modelled  with  extraordinary  skill 
and  grace.  The  figure  sleeps  peacefully  upon  the 
bed  of  death  free  from  all  trace  of  suffering  or 
terror,  the  head  thrown  back  upon  the  cushion 
which  suj^ports  it,  in  an  attitude  full  of  charm  and 
nobility.  The  young  queen,  in  a  pose  almost 
voluptuous,  slumbers  beside  him.  Pilon  represents 
her  as  she  was  when  Henri  II  was  killed,  though 
she  survived  him  thirty  years.  This  is  one  of  the 
loveliest  nudes  in  existence.  What  is  so  surprising 
and  so  admirable  in  these  two  figures  especially, 
though  it  is  scarcely  less  true  of  the  nudes  upon 
the  other  two  tombs,  is  the  dignity  of  these  un- 
draped  figures;  though  deprived  of  every  insignia 
of  royalty,  thej^  are  none  the  less  essentially  ma- 
jestic and  regal. 

Catherine,  like  her  successor  and  khiswoman, 
Marie  de  Medicis,  knew  how  to  direct  an  artist 
and  was  keenly  alive  to  the  importance  of  leaving 


Photo  A.  Oiraudon 


KECLINING    STATUES    OF   HENBI    II    AND   CATHERINE    DE    MEDICIS. 

BY   GERMAIN    PH-ON. 

FROM    THEIR    TOMB    AT    SAINT-DENIS. 


THE   UEN    MADE   TO   CONTAIN   THE    HEART  OF 

FBANgOIS   I. 

FROM    THE    ABBEY    OF    UAUTES-BRUYERES. 

BY    PIERRE    BONTEMPS. 

NOW  AT    SAINT-DENIS. 


Photo  X 


Photo   X 


RECU>fBENT    FIGURES    OF   HEXRI    II    AND    CATHERIXE   DE    MEDICIS. 
BY    GERMAIN    PILOX.       IN    THE    CATHEDRAI-    OF    SAI.M  DEM8 


Photo  A.  Oiraudon 


DETAILS   FROM   THE  TOMB   OF 

HENRI   II   AND   CATHERINE   DE   MEDICIS 

AT    SAINT-DENIS. 

FBOM   CAST  IN  THE  TROCADERO. 


Photo  A.  Oiraudon 


SAINT-UENIS:  THE  TOMBS       349 

behind  her,  as  she  wished  her  name  to  live,  works 
of  art  and  architecture  whose  superiority  alone 
would  make  them,  and  her  as  the  subject,  im- 
mortal. How  wise  they  were,  these  daughters 
of  the  Florentine  merchant  princes.  Marie  de 
Medicis  insured  the  immortality  of  her  name 
through  the  Rubens  paintings  of  her  life.  Cath- 
erine no  doubt  thought  to  create,  in  the  Chapelle 
des  Valois,  with  this  tomb  and  incidentally  herself 
as  the  central  interest,  a  marvel  which  would  com- 
pare with  the  famous  tomb  of  her  ancestors  at 
San  Lorenzo. 

Though  frustrated  of  her  full  desire,  Catherine 
would  live  through  the  ])eauty  of  this  figure  of 
Pilon's  alone,  and  in  this  sumptuous  tomb,  and  the 
magnificent  chapel  designed  to  contain  it,  we 
feel  the  pride  of  race,  the  projection  of  an  ego 
centuries  beyond  the  grave. 

The  crypt  of  Saint-Denis  has  suffered  many 
modifications.  Originally  it  consisted  of  a  central 
part  (corresponding  to  the  sanctuary  of  the  upper 
church),  of  an  ambulatory,  and  seven  chapels.  In 
it  are  still  two  columns  of  JDink  marble  with  white 
marble  capitals,  cut  after  the  antique  traditions, 
Avhich  date  from  the  church  of  Charlemagne,  if 
not  from  that  of  Dagobert. 

The  central  part,  now  altogether  walled  up  and 


350  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

inaccessible  to  the  public,  was  the  sepulchre  of  the 
three  holy  martyrs  and  contained  the  relics  of  the 
abbey.  As  a  sanctuary  it  seems  to  have  been 
abandoned  at  an  early  epoch,  and  since  the  XVIth 
century  no  religious  ceremonies  have  been  held 
there.  In  the  XVI Ith  century  it  became  the 
Royal  Vault. 

Previous  to  Henri  IV  the  kings  and  queens 
and  others  buried  at  Saint-Denis  reposed  in  the 
sarcophagi  which  constituted  their  tombs.  Henri 
II,  Catherine,  and  their  three  sons,  Francois  II, 
Charles  IX,  and  Henri  III  were  laid  in  the 
Chapelle  des  Valois.  On  the  day  of  the  inter- 
ment of  a  sovereign  it  was  customary  to  place  the 
body  of  the  deceased  king  provisionally  in  the 
ceremonial  vault,  under  the  south  transept,  and 
here  it  lay,  in  state,  upon  a  grill  before  a  marble 
statue  of  the  Virgin,  for  one  year,  during  which 
the  permanent  resting  place,  chosen  by  the  de- 
ceased, was  prepared.  At  the  end  of  the  year  the 
body  was  carried  to  its  final  tomb. 

Henri  IV  was  the  first  king  of  the  House  of 
Bourbon;  he  began  a  new  line.  When  he  died 
his  body  was  put  in  the  usual  place  in  the  cere- 
monial vault,  but  as  he  himself  had  chosen  no 
sepulchre  and  INIarie  de  Medicis  took  no  action 
in  the   matter  and  he   could  not  be   laid   in   the 


SAINT-DENIS:  THE  TOMBS       851 

Cliapelle  des  Valois,  since  it  belonged  to  another 
branch  of  royalty,  his  body  was  allowed  to  remain 
in  the  receiving  vault,  and  as  his  descendants  died 
it  became  the  custom  to  place  their  caskets  there. 

This  tomb,  however,  was  small,  so  upon  the 
death  of  jNIarie-Therese,  Louis  XIV  ordered  an 
enlargement.  This  enlargement  consisted  merely 
of  oj^ening  a  narrow  passage  between  the  cere- 
monial chamber  and  the  old  sanctuary  of  the 
crypt.  Marie-Therese  died  on  July  30,  1683,  and 
the  new  sepulchre  was  blessed  on  the  last  day  of 
the  following  month,  and  was  thereafter  known 
as  the  Royal  Vault. 

The  access  to  the  Royal  Vault  was  by  a  stone 
stairway,  under  the  transept,  which  communi- 
cated with  the  ceremonial  vault  from  which  the 
new  chamber  was  reached  by  means  of  a  long, 
narrow,  and  crooked  passage.  As  soon  as  the 
new  vault  was  ready  all  the  caskets  of  the  Bour- 
bons were  transferred  to  it  except  that  of  Louis 
XIII,  the  last  king  dead,  who  was  left  on  the 
last  step  of  the  stairway,  where  he  was  to  wait 
until  the  next  king  should  take  his  place.  This, 
then,  became  the  custom,  and  was  followed  in  the 
burials  of  Louis  XIV  and  Louis  XV.  This  last 
monarch  was  still  in  his  place  upon  the  steps  when 
the  Revolution  broke. 


352  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

The  hasty  rage  of  the  Revolutionists  could  not 
brook  the  inconvenience  of  the  ordinary  entrance 
to  the  Royal  Vault  when  it  came  to  carrying  out 
the  bodies  of  the  despised  monarchs.  In  order  to 
facilitate  and  expedite  matters  the  authorities 
broke  into  the  wall  of  the  larger  vault,  from  the 
other  end,  between  the  two  columns  opposite  the 
end  chapel  of  the  crypt.  This  accounts  for  the 
fact,  already  noted,  that  Henri  IV  was  the  first 
king  taken  out  and  Louis  XV  the  last. 

Napoleon  repaired  the  Bourbon  vault  for  the 
reception  of  the  imperial  family,  making  the  en- 
trance where  the  violators  of  1793  had  effected 
their  entrv.  When  the  Bourbons  regained  the 
throne  this  opening,  through  which  had  passed 
in  violence  all  their  illustrious  ancestors,  was 
walled  up  and  the  entrance  restored  as  originally 
in  the  south  transept,  through  the  ceremonial 
vault. 

The  opening  still  exists,  covered  by  three  stones, 
under  which  the  stone  stairway  leads  down,  com- 
posed of  fourteen  steps.  At  the  foot  of  the  steps, 
on  the  right,  reposes,  upon  a  heavy  iron  grill,  the 
body  of  Louis  XVIII,  the  last  king  interred  in 
Saint-Denis.  An  old  account  describes  the  casket, 
covered  with  a  black  velvet  cloth,  bearing  a  silver 
cross,    while   above    a   vase    of   copper    holds   the 


SAINT-DENIS:  THE  TOMBS       353 

entrails.  Thus  Louis  XVIII  awaits  upon  the  steps 
of  the  ceremonial  chamber  a  successor  who  never 
replaced  him. 

Rich  still  in  tombs,  Saint-Denis  contains  only  a 
pitiful  handful  of  royal  remains,  walled  up  in  the 
Royal  Vault.  Two  caskets  enclose  what  was 
thought  to  be  the  remains  of  Louis  XVI  and 
Marie-Antoinette,  gathered  up  from  the  Cimi- 
tiere  de  la  Madeleine,  where  their  mutilated 
corpses  were  thrown  into  a  deep  trench  between 
beds  of  quicklime.  Opposite  them  in  other  coffins, 
rest  Victoire  and  Adelaide  de  France,  the  two 
princesses  who  died  in  exile,  and  Charles-Ferdinand 
dArtois,  due  de  Berry,  who  fell  under  the  sword. 
Beside  their  murdered  father  in  two  tiny  coffins, 
like  cradles,  lie  two  poor  children  who  lived  only  a 
few  hours.  One  of  them.  Mademoiselle  d'Artois, 
was  destined  to  become  a  princess. 

The  last  of  the  Bourbons,  Charles  X  and  his 
son,  died  in  exile  and  were  buried  on  foreign  soil. 
Louis-Philippe  and  the  two  Napoleons  were  not 
more  fortunate. 

At  the  back  of  the  Royal  Vault  is  a  little  stone 
arvioire  supported  on  two  antique  colonnettes. 
This  contains  some  supposed  remnants  of  the 
bodies  of  Henri  IV  and  INIarie  de  ^Sledicis  and 
of  Louis  XIV;  two  hearts   from  the  old  Jesuit 


354  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

church  of  Saint-Louis,  in  the  Marais,  considered 
to  be  those  of  Louis  XIII  and  Louis  XIV,  and 
some  unidentified  bones.  These  remains,  enclosed 
in  enamelled  lead  boxes,  were  deposited  in  July, 
1846.  Some  bones,  found  in  1817,  in  the  trenches 
of  the  Cour  de  Valois,  where  the  Revolutionists 
threw  the  despoiled  corpses  of  their  kings,  have 
been  added  to  them. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
RENAISSANCE:  FRANCOIS  I 

Gothic  art  had  scarcely  reached  its  zenith 
when,  exhausted,  as  it  were,  by  its  great  flower- 
ing, it  began  to  cast  an  eye  upon  Italy,  where  the 
Renaissance  had  been  in  progress  for  a  century, 
and  to  submit  itself  in  part  to  this  warm,  ex- 
pansive influence. 

There  was  undoubtedly  more  than  the  exhaus- 
tion of  the  Gothic  theme  to  account  for  the 
change  which  came  gradually  over  the  face  of 
things.  The  religious  movement  of  which  Gothic 
art  was  born  had  also,  with  Saint-Louis  and  the 
glorious  enshrinement  of  the  relics  of  the  Pas- 
sion, reached  its  climax  and  a  decline  was  slowly 
setting  in.  Little  by  little  the  love  of  ideal 
beauty,  which  the  austerity  of  the  early  Chris- 
tians had  banished  as  pagan  in  feeling,  was  creep- 
ing back  with  the  riches  and  luxuries  of  the  court, 
of  the  ecclesiastics,  and  of  the  church  itself. 

We  have  only  to  compare  the  bald  simplicity 
of  the  Gothic  statues  of  Saint-Denis,  affixed  to 
the   portails   of   Notre-Dame   and    of   the    saint's 

355 


356  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

cathedral,  the  spirituality  of  the  various  paintings 
of  the  hisliop  of  the  XVth  century,  with  that 
smooth  prelate  from  Sarazin's  chisel,  from  the 
royal  abbey  of  Montmartre,  to  see  how  tastes  in 
martyrs  had  changed  with  the  lapse  of  centuries. 

Gothic  sculpture  was  kept  strictly  to  its  mis- 
sion— to  its  mission  architectural  as  well  as 
spiritual.  Essentially  monumental  in  c.iaracter, 
these  Madonnas,  Christs,  Saints,  and  Apostles, 
with  their  unworldly  expression,  their  simple  yet 
significant  gestures,  tlieir  naif  symbols,  are  as 
marvellously  adapted  to  the  architecture  of  which 
they  are  a  part  as  to  the  understanding  of  the 
unlettered  public  who  read  in  them  all  the  essen- 
tials of  the  Holy  Writ.  Clinging  close  to  the 
constructive  line  the  angels  and  devices  of  the 
voussoirs  and  consoles,  niches  and  stylobates,  seem, 
even  when  most  elaborate  and  fantastic,  but  the 
natural  flowering  of  the  forms  they  ornament  but 
whose  contour  they  never  disturb. 

The  sculptors  of  the  "Death  of  the  Virgin," 
in  the  apse  of  Notre-Dame,  of  the  figures  on 
the  facade  of  Chartres,  of  the  "  Beau  Dieu  "  of 
Amiens  knew  none  but  arbitrary  limitations  to 
their  genius  and  could  have  advanced  to  the  most 
transcendent  forms  of  ideal  beauty  and  even  to 
the   frankest   study   of   the   nude,   had   that   been 


Photo  A.  Giraudon 


FRANCOIS   I   A   CHEVAL. 
BY    FRANCOIS    CLOUET, 
I,OUVRK. 


Photo  A.  Giraudon 


FRANQOIS    I. 

BY    JEAJS'XET   CLOUET.      LOUVKE. 


p,;^|pK^r^ 


Photo  A.  Oiraudon 


FRANCOIS    I.       BRONZE   BUST.      AXO:^YMOUS. 
LOUVRE. 


RENAISSANCE:  FRANCOIS  I      359 

the  purpose  of  their  time;  but,  says  the  Marquis 
de  Laborde,  "  the  desire  then  was  for  typical 
forms  of  searching  truth,  suffering  and  mystic  in 
aspect,  chid  with  tlie  conventual  shyness  that  was 
the  fashion  of  the  time." 

Standing,  in  point  of  time,  between  the  opu- 
lent works  of  the  antique  and  the  voluptuous 
beauty  of  the  Renaissance,  these  archaic  figures 
draw  apart,  unrelated  to  either,  and  are  not 
readily  understood  by  those  who  approach  them 
from  any  other  than  a  direct  standpoint.  One 
must  lose  one's  self  in  contemplating  them  before 
they  will  begin  to  speak;  then  the  fascination  of 
their  simplicity,  the  pure  directness  of  their  mes- 
sage, unclouded  by  any  sophistry,  seems  to  carry 
them  beyond  the  achievement  of  anj^  other  age. 

As  the  French  Renaissance,  in  its  debut,  cast 
many  a  regretful  look  behind,  hesitated  to  cast  off 
the  worn  Gothic  raiment  until  sure  of  a  worthy 
garment  to  replace  it,  so  do  we  part  with  re- 
luctance from  so  sweet  a  tradition.  One  thinks 
of  such  quiet  cities  as  Rouen,  Amiens,  Beauvais, 
Chartres,  Le  Mans,  Auxerre,  Autun,  Bourges, 
and  the  immortal  Rheims  as  presided  over  each 
by  its  great  Gothic  flower.  One  seems  to  see 
them,  with  that  inward  eye,  standing  stalwart, 
though    venerable,    reaching    their    spires,    their 


360  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

towers,  heavenward  with  a  determination  to  lift 
humanity  by  the  sheer  force  of  architectural  im- 
pulse to  supramundane  thoughts  and  lives. 
Their  vastness,  from  the  distant  approach,  is 
overwhelming;  whole  towns  are  swallowed  in 
their  shadows,  the  landscape  itself  is  dwarfed  by 
the  magnitude  of  their  proportions.  The  sun 
seems  to  shine  but  to  throw  into  relief  the  thrill- 
ing passages  of  these  cathedrals,  so  indigenous  to 
the  soil,  so  truly  born  of  the  great  movement  of 
Christianity  across  the  heart  of  France.  Not 
again  in  our  loiterings  shall  we  encounter  such 
pure  epics  in  stone. 

As  the  Gothic  movement  found  its  expression 
in  churches  and  in  spiritual  revelations,  so  the 
Renaissance  displayed  its  charms  in  civil  archi- 
tecture; as  Gothic  architecture  and  sculpture 
glorified  God,  so  Renaissance  art  and  architecture 
glorified  man ;  and  so  leaving  the  great  cathedrals 
of  France  we  must  turn  now  to  the  famous 
chateaux  and  palaces,  for  the  ego  is  developing 
rapidly  and  temporal  things  are  the  order  of  the 
day. 

It  was  at  about  the  end  of  the  XVth  century 
and  at  the  beginning  of  the  XVIth  century  that 
Charles  VIII,  Louis  XII,  and  Francois  I,  aware 
and   envious   of   what   was   being   done   in    Italy, 


REXAISSANCE:  FRANCOIS  I      361 

attracted  to  their  courts  certain  distinguished 
architects  from  Lombardy  and  Florence;  while 
at  the  same  time  French  art  came  rapidly  under 
the  influence  of  the  Renaissance. 

At  first  the  transition,  working  tentatively,  was 
quite  obvious;  French  architecture  merely  bor- 
rowed something  from  the  Italians,  while  holding 
to  the  native  construction  and  disposition  of  the 
ensemble,  producing  in  the  XVIth  century  a 
style  full  of  character  and  peculiar  to  France. 
The  form  of  the  old  French  chateau  was  retained 
long  after  its  round  towers,  built  for  defence,  had 
ceased  to  function,  while  the  Gothic  survived  in 
the  general  details  of  decoration.  But  little  by 
little  the  round  towers  gave  way  to  square  pa- 
vilions and  every  decorative  element  even  re- 
motely deri^^ed  from  the  ogival  family  disap- 
peared. 

Though  entered  upon  the  path  of  imitation 
the  French  architect  knew  how  to  keep  an  orig- 
inal face,  which  was  the  more  meritorious  since 
the  Italian  colony  installed  at  Fontainebleau  ex- 
ercised a  considerable  influence;  and  at  this  junc- 
ture France  produced  some  valiant  architects  such 
as  Pierre  Lescot,  Jean  Bullant,  and  Philibert 
Delorme,  who  built  the  more  renowned  portions 
of    the    Louvre    and    the    Tuileries,    and    whose 


362  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

genius  was  sufficient  to  counterbalance  the  Italian 
influences  which  appear  in  their  work. 

So  handsome  are  the  works  of  this  epoch  that 
the  mind  is  diverted  from  the  dangers  of  the 
classic  revival,  which  two  centuries  later  was  to 
inflict  even  Paris  with  those  slavish  imitations  of 
Greek  and  Roman  temples  adapted  to  all  sorts  of 
irrelevant  buildings.  For  the  moment  the  transi- 
tion produced  that  "  fine  and  delicate  marvel  of 
French  art,"  the  church  of  Saint-Etienne-du-Mont, 
built  between  1517  and  1626,  which  has  been 
well  described  as  a  Gothic  church  disguised  in 
the  trappings  of  classical  details.  "  L'art  reli- 
gieux  vient  mourir  daris  Saint-Etieime-du-Mont" 
said  Henri  Martin,  and  if  this  be  true  its  last 
moments  are  of  a  transcendent  loveliness. 

The  west  facade  of  the  court  of  the  Louvre 
is  considered  one  of  the  finest  bits  of  Renaissance 
of  the  period  of  Francois  I,  and  in  the  Luxem- 
bourg Palace,  built  by  Marie  de  Medicis,  at  the 
height  of  the  movement,  we  see  with  how  little 
slavery  to  his  model— the  Pitti  Palace — Salomon 
de  Brosses,  the  architect  of  the  dowager  queen, 
adapted  its  general  physiognomy  while  subordi- 
nating it  to  the  current  French  traditions  and  the 
demands  of  the  French  climate. 

We    have    already    seen,    at    Saint-Denis,    the 


RENAISSANCE:  FRANCOIS  I      363 

Italian  influence  as  well  as  the  Italian  hand  itself 
at  work  upon  the  beautiful  Renaissance  tombs. 
The  sculpture  of  this  period  in  France,  like  the 
civil  architecture,  had  an  original  and  charming 
character.  Jean  Goujon,  Germain  Pilon,  Pierre 
Bontemjis,  Barthelemy  Prieur,  Jean  Cousin,  in 
submitting  to  the  influence  of  the  antique,  kept 
nevertheless  to  a  quality  fundamentally  French. 
In  painting,  however,  the  Italian  tradition  was 
disastrous  to  that  delicate  French  art  which  had 
scarcely  begun  to  bloom  in  the  revealing  portraits 
of  Jean  and  Jehannet  Clouet  and  Jean  Fouquet. 
Primaticcio  and  Rosso,  established  at  Fontaine- 
bleau,  discredited  completely  these  old  masters  of 
the  XVth  century,  and  though  the  XVIIIth  cen- 
tury gave  France  some  independent  talents — 
Watteau,  Chardin,  Greuze,  La  Tour — the  style 
which  these  two  autocratic  Italians  imposed  lay 
heavy  upon  native  painters,  and  they  dragged  along 
in  imitation  and  pastiche  until  the  birth  of  the 
Romantic  school  delivered  them  from  the  Italian 
tradition. 

To  feel  the  full  swmg  of  the  movement  there 
is  nothing  more  exhilarating  than  to  take,  at  this 
juncture,  the  famous  tour  of  the  chateaux  of  the 
Loire,  for  while  Paris  itself  is  not  particularly 
convincing  upon  the  subject  of  the  Renaissance, 


364  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

to  visit  Touraine  is  to  get  at  the  very  heart  of 
the  matter,  to  see  the  Renaissance  draw  its  first 
breath  at  Chambord  and  rise  to  its  finest  heights 
at  Blois  or  Chenonceau;  to  dig  back  into  its 
ancestry  at  Plessis,  to  witness  its  conception  at 
Amboise,  to  be  carried  to  its  purest  expression 
at  Azay-le-Rideau,  to  bathe  one's  self,  in  fine,  in 
all  the  richness  of  French  history,  to  take  in  once 
and  for  all  that  fact  so  freely  overlooked  bv  the 
casual  tourist  that  though  France  may  be  Paris, 
Paris  is  not  France. 

In  these  mediaeval  strongholds  we  see  strange 
metamorphoses — feudal  castles  changing  into 
pleasure  palaces  for  kings'  mistresses;  dungeons, 
keeps,  moats  standing  as  mute  souvenirs  of  dra- 
matic intensity,  or,  "  renovated  in  the  renaissance 
style,"  mocking  at  former  horrors;  great  round 
towers  attached  from  mere  force  of  habit  to  build- 
ings erected  after  the  days  of  defence,  to  buildings 
which  proclaim  their  peaceful  character  in  multi- 
tudinous embroideries  and  cupolas. 

All  the  pleasures,  the  griefs,  the  vanities,  the 
sorrows,  the  jealousies,  the  wickedness,  the  follies, 
the  ignominies  of  all  the  French  princes  from  Louis 
XI  to  Henry  V  are  enacted  here.  Here  kings 
were  born  and  died;  here  queens  passed  painful 
periods  of  mourning  or  dreary  months  of  banish- 


REXAISSAXCE:  FRANCOIS  I      365 

ment;  here,  at  Amhoise,  Francois  I  passed  much 
of  his  hectic  youth,  with  his  ambitious  mother, 
waiting  for  the  throne  of  France,  while  Anne  of 
Brittany  in  the  royal  chateau,  but  a  few  miles 
distant,  tried  desperately  to  give  Louis  XII  an 
heir.  The  history  of  the  chateau  of  Blois  in  the 
XVIth  century  is  to  a  great  extent  the  history  of 
the  whole  of  France.  Chenonceau,  Henri  II's 
princely  gift  to  Diane  de  Poitiers,  is  eloquent  of 
the  struggle  for  supremacy  between  the  king's 
favourite  and  the  queen.  Catherine  triumphs  in 
the  end,  snatching  the  chateau  from  her  rival  upon 
the  death  of  the  sovereign,  completing,  with 
strange  indifference  to  sentiment,  constructions 
conceived  by  Diane,  and  stamping  the  royal  mono- 
gram over  the  slender  device  of  the  favourite  as 
though  to  take  to  herself  by  brutal  force  all 
memory  of  her  lord's  romantic  passion. 

The  chtiteau  of  Chambord  is  one  of  the  most 
curious  products  of  the  epoch  of  reluctant  detach- 
ment from  the  purely  French  form.  The  archi- 
tect, who  was  said  to  be  Primaticcio,  but  w^ho 
is  now  thought  to  have  been  a  French  master  of 
distinction,  if  obscurity,  tried  to  fuse  together  in 
this  edifice  the  fortified  castle  of  the  Moyen  Age 
with  the  pleasure  palace  of  the  Renaissance.  In 
the    result    there    is    nothing    Italian,    either    in 


366  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

thought  or  form.  The  exterior  of  this  splendid 
dwelling  presents  to  the  hewildered  eye  a  multi- 
tude of  conical  summits,  terminating  in  lanthorns, 
rising  on  prodigious  round  towers,  of  dormer 
windows  in  stone,  of  belfries,  of  immense  chim- 
neys richly  sculptured  and  incrusted  with  slates, 
a  forest  of  points,  the  last  pinnacle  tipped  with 
a  huge  stone  fleur-de-lys — the  only  one  that  es- 
caped the  Revolution — and  the  salamander  of 
Fran9ois  I  the  otherwise  constant  motive. 

With  all  its  fabulous  extravagance  of  extrava- 
gance, so  closely  does  it  cling  to  the  type  of  the 
old  French  chateau  that  one  takes  it  to  be  the 
nearest  thing,  from  many  points  of  view,  to  that 
old  historic  Louvre,  of  which  we  read  so  much, 
and  whose  foundations,  still  partly  buried  under 
the  west  wing,  are  traced  upon  the  paving  of  the 
inner  court. 

As  at  Chambord  the  castle  is  in  the  form  of  a 
larger  structure  enclosing  a  smaller  one,  so  the 
old  Louvre  formed  a  large  square  about  a  court 
in  whose  middle  rose  a  big  tower  which  served  as 
dungeon  to  the  chateau.  As  at  Chambord  the 
great  central  tower  of  the  court  seems  to  fling 
its  shadow  over  the  whole  place,  so  we  read  that 
Francois  I  began  his  reconstruction  of  the  old 
Louvre  by  the  demolition  of  tlie  grosse  tour  of 


RENAISSANCE:  FRANCOIS  I      367 

Philippe  Auguste,  because  it  made  the  palace 
dark  and  gave  it  the  look  of  a  prison.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  one  gets  one's  bearings  best  by 
seeing  first  Chambord  and  the  older  chateaux  of 
the  Loire. 

With  these  in  mind  the  plan  traced  upon  the 
court  of  the  Louvre  becomes  perfectly  explicit. 
These  lines,  done  in  white  marble  and  in  gres, 
outline  with  exact  accuracy  the  foundations  of 
the  fortress  of  Philippe  Auguste,  with  its  towers, 
its  quadrangle,  and  all  its  interior  arrangement 
laid  bare  in  1866,  by  the  excavations  undertaken 
by  the  municipality.  During  several  months,  at 
this  time,  Paris  could  see  this  exhumation  of  an 
epoch  so  remote,  and  read  in  the  half-opened 
earth  one  of  the  most  curious  pages  of  its  history. 
About  one  thousand  cubic  metres  of  this  sub- 
structure were  uncovered. 

The  Louvre,  as  we  see  it  to-day,  comprises  a 
vast  agglomeration  of  more  or  less  related  archi- 
tecture of  which  the  earliest  portions  date  from 
Fran9ois  I  and  the  latest  touches  from  the  first 
years  of  the  Third  Republic. 

Everything  previous  to  the  actual  construction 
undertaken  under  Fran9ois  I  had  been  legendary 
until  the  excavations  of  1866,  which  clearly  dis- 
closed   the    Louvre    of    Philippe    Auguste.      But 


368  A  LOITERER  IX  PARIS 

Philippe  Aiigiiste  himself  was  but  a  rebuilder  and 
tradition  carries  the  ancient  palace  of  this  site 
back  to  remotest  times,  possibly  to  Childebert, 
certainly  to  Louis  le  Gros.  Whether  it  was  a 
royal  hunting-lodge,  situated  in  the  wood  bor- 
dering the  Seine,  or  whether  it  was  a  fort  com- 
manding the  river,  we  do  not  know,  but  that  it 
had  towers,  or  at  any  rate  a  tower,  is  fairly  cer- 
tain from  the  fact  that  writers  of  the  time  of 
Philij^pe  Auguste  speak  always  of  his  big  tower, 
built  in  1204,  as  the  tour  neuve,  the  new  tower, 
which  seems  to  indicate  the  existence  of  other 
towers  of  more  ancient  construction. 

The  Louvre  of  Philippe  Auguste  would  have 
been  a  somewhat  newer  building  than  the  apse 
of  Notre-Dame,  and  a  few  years  earlier  than  the 
fa9ade  of  the  great  cathedral.  It  was  built  as 
part  of  the  wall  of  Paris,  constructed  by  PhilijDpe 
Auguste,  of  which  there  remain  many  traces,  and 
constituting  the  principal  work  of  fortification, 
became  a  sort  of  citadel. 

The  old  chateau,  as  one  can  plainly  see  by 
examining  the  outlines  of  the  foundations,  formed 
a  square  about  one-fourth  the  size  of  the  actual 
court,  its  middle  well  taken  up  by  the  huge  round 
tower  of  the  dungeon.  Amongst  the  celebrated 
guests    of    this    tower    were    Ferrand,    comte    de 


RENAISSANCE:  FRANCOIS  I      369 

Flandre,  whom  Philippe  Auguste  imprisoned 
here,  in  1214,  after  the  victory  of  Bouvines; 
Enguerrand  de  Coucy;  Guy  and  Louis  de 
Flandre  in  1299  and  1322;  Enguerrand  de  Ma- 
rigny;  Jean  IV,  due  de  Bretagne;  Charles  II, 
king  of  Navarre;  le  captal  de  Buch,  Jean  de 
Grailly;  and  Jean  II,  due  d'Alen^on. 

From  this  great  tower  (after  the  imprisonment 
of  the  comte  de  Flandre  sometimes  called  the 
tour  Ferrand,  from  its  dominating  quality  often 
called  the  tour  de  Paris)  all  the  great  fiefs  of 
France  had  their  source.  When  the  vassals  came 
to  take  or  to  renew  the  feudal  oath,  it  was  there 
that  the  ceremony  took  place.  In  the  Salle  des 
Cariatides,  buried  in  the  wall,  is  a  fragment  of 
the  old  fortress,  and  to  the  left  of  the  window 
concealed  by  a  door,  is  a  spiral  stairway  of  the 
original  building. 

We  know  vaguely  of  a  room  in  the  left  wing, 
long  known  as  the  Chamhre  de  Saint-Louis,  but 
Saint-Louis  resided  in  the  Palais,  and  it  was  not 
until  the  reign  of  Henri  II  that  the  Louvre  be- 
came the  actual  residence  of  royalty.  Charles  V 
was  the  first  to  attempt  serious  occupancy  and 
when  he  built  the  third  wall  of  Paris  he  enclosed 
the  palace  within  the  new  limits  of  the  city.  He 
enlarged    and    embellished    the    Louvre    and    in- 


mo  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

stalled  in  one  of  the  towers  his  library  of  nine 
hundred  books,  and  added  gardens  to  the  chateau, 
which,  though  small,  were  the  admiration  of  con- 
temporary writers. 

But  Charles  V  did  not  confine  his  interest  to 
the  Louvre;  he  built  also  the  Hotel  Saint-Pol, 
which  became  the  royal  residence  until  Charles 
VII  abandoned  it  for  the  neighbouring  Hotel  des 
Tournelles,  the  official  residence  of  Louis  XI, 
Charles  VIII,  Louis  XII,  and  Francois  I,  when 
these  kings  had  occasion  to  be  in  Paris.  But  the 
Tournelles  is  never  spoken  of  with  enthusiasm, 
Francois  I  did  not  think  it  fit  to  receive  his  rival, 
Charles-Quint,  when  a  ceremonial  visit  from  the 
emperor  was  impending,  and  this  was  his  reason 
for  deciding  to  j^atch  up  the  old  Louvre  for  the 
occasion  and  to  make  it  the  royal  palace.  His 
mother,  Louise  de  Savoie,  found  it  unhealthy  on 
account  of  the  marshes  of  the  Marais,  and  obtained 
the  Tuileries  from  her  son  with  the  neiohbourinar 
villa  of  Nicolas  de  Neufville,  secretary  of  the 
finances.  Finally,  when  Henri  II  was  wounded  in 
a  joust,  near  this  palace,  and  died  in  the  Tournelles, 
Catherine  de  Medicis,  his  wife,  conceived  a  super- 
stitious horror  of  the  place  and  had  it  pulled  down, 
establishing  herself  and  her  children  at  the  Louvre 
and  commencing  at  once  her  dowager  palace,  the 


RENAISSANCE:  FRANCOIS  I       371 

Tiiileries,  u2:)on  an  extension  of  the  villa  of  Louise 
de  Savoie,  whose  domain  she  had  greatly  enlarged. 

The  great  movement  which  resulted  in  the 
palace  of  the  Louvre,  once  under  way,  moved 
rapidly  and  it  is  difficult  not  to  anticipate  one's 
story.  We  must  go  back  now  to  Louis  XII, 
that  good  and  simple  sovereign,  whose  tomb  we 
have  seen  at  Saint-Denis,  and  upon  which  we  may 
read  so  much  of  the  history  of  France  and  of 
the  wars  with  Italy,  which,  futile  and  extravagant 
as  they  had  been  from  the  political  point  of  view, 
had  fostered  in  the  French  a  keen  appreciation 
of  the  marvels  of  the  Renaissance. 

Upon  this  tomb  Louis  XII  is  represented  in 
the  company  of  his  second  wife,  Anne  de  Bre- 
tagne,  the  widow  of  his  predecessor,  Charles  VIII, 
whom  he  espoused  in  order  to  continue  the  union 
of  France  and  Brittany.  Anne  de  Bretagne  was 
his  chief  companion,  his  other  marriages  having 
been  but  brief.  His  first  wife  was  Joan,  second 
daughter  of  Louis  XI,  for  whom  he  never  cared, 
and  when  he  became  king  he  persuaded  Alexander 
VI  to  grant  him  the  dispensation  for  a  divorce.  In 
acknowledgment  of  this  favour  he  presented  to  the 
pope's  son,  Cfi^sar  Borgia,  the  Duchy  of  Valentinois. 
His  third  wife  was  the  beautiful  young  girl,  Mary 
of  England,  sister  of  Henry  VIII,  whose  affections 


372  A  LOITERER  IX  PARIS 

were  already  engaged  by  Charles  Brandon,  Duke 
of  Suffolk,  but  who  was  forced  into  this  union  by 
her  brother.  But  Anne  de  Bretagne  was  the  domi- 
nating factor  of  Louis's  wedded  life  and  she  seems 
to  have  ruled  him  with  an  iron  hand. 

Under  Louis  XII  much  rivalry  existed  between 
the  two  most  prominent  young  princes  of  the  day, 
Fran9ois  d'Angouleme,  heir-presumptive  to  the 
throne  of  France,  and  Charles  of  Luxembourg, 
who  afterwards  became  the  celebrated  Charles  V 
or  Charles-Quint,  king  of  Spain  and  emperor  of 
Germany.  Louis  had  only  daughters,  and  his 
eldest  child,  Claude  de  France,  was  affianced  first 
to  Charles-Quint  by  her  mother  and  married  to 
Fran9ois  only  after  the  death  of  that  tyrannical 
lady. 

Anne  de  Bretagne  opposed  this  most  logical 
and  inevitable  marriage  with  all  the  force  of  her 
dominating  character.  History  records  her  bit- 
ter jealousy  against  Louise  de  Savoie  and  her 
brilliant  son.  She  kept  them  hidden  at  Amboise, 
where,  however,  the  duchesse  d'Angouleme  con- 
trived to  hold  a  rival  court  and  to  surround  her 
son,  whom  she  idolized,  with  every  social  advan- 
tage— and  disadvantage.  When  Anne  was  too 
furious  she  exiled  them  to  the  simple  Maison 
d'Angouleme,    at    Cognac,    where    Francois    was 


RENAISSANCE:  FRANCOIS  I      373 

born;  but  wherever  they  were  Anne  hated  her 
rival  with  a  suj)erstitious  hatred,  and  felt  her 
presence,  like  a  bad  fairy,  at  each  confinement, 
when  the  queen  was  delivered  of  a  stillborn. 

On  the  other  hand,  Louise's  thoughts  for  the 
queen  were  no  more  friendly  and  she  waited  in 
silence  but  with  murderous  wishes,  as  long  as 
Anne  de  Bretagne  lived,  to  achieve  the  ambitions 
of  her  life.  These  ambitions  were  placed  in  her 
son;  she  loved  him,  say  the  chronicles,  like  a  fils 
de  Vaviour  and  many  thought  indeed  that  so  god- 
like a  creature  could  not  have  been  the  fruit  of 
her  union  with  her  mediocre  husband. 

The  marriage  between  Claude  de  France  and 
Francois  was  ardently  desired  by  the  people,  but 
Louis  dared  not  go  against  the  wishes  of  his 
queen,  and  she  taking  advantage  of  a  moment  of 
weakness  obtained  his  consent  to  the  betrothal  of 
their  daughter  to  Charles-Quint,  making  a  dis- 
graceful marriage  contract  by  which  Milan,  Brit- 
tany, and  Burgundy  were  to  be  given  up  as 
Claude's  marriage  portion.  This  meant  the  aliena- 
tion of  half  the  kingdom  of  France  and  Louis 
could  not  have  consented  had  he  been  in  posses- 
sion of  his  faculties.  Fortunately  the  king  recov- 
ered and  the  States-General,  assembling  at  Tours, 
besought  him  to  revoke  the  rash  engagement  and 


374  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

betroth  his  daughter  to  the  comte  d'Angouleme. 
Louis  recognized  the  justice  of  this  petition  and, 
breaking  the  former  treaty,  celebrated  the  new 
betrothal  with  great  splendour.    This  was  in  1505. 

In  1514  Louis  lost  his  consort  and  immediately 
celebrated  the  marriage  against  which  Anne  had 
successfully  protested  until  the  day  of  her  death. 
The  king,  breaking  loose  from  his  long  fetters,  lost 
no  time  in  consummating  his  own  remarriage  with 
the  sister  of  Henri  VIII,  a  young  girl  of  but 
sixteen  years;  and  two  months  after  the  celebra- 
tion of  these  noces  nefastes,  Louis  XII  was  laid 
in  his  tomb.  The  chevalier  Bayard  tells  of  the 
king's  infatuation  for  his  young  bride  which 
caused  him  to  break  up  all  the  habits  of  his  old 
age — to  dine  at  eight  instead  of  at  noon,  to  retire 
at  midnight  instead  of  six  as  had  been  his  former 
custom.  These  excesses  hastened  the  end  of  the 
monarch,  and  released  Marie  d'Angleterre,  who 
after  a  short  period  of  mourning,  at  the  Hotel  de 
Cluny,  was  free  to  marry  the  Duke  of  Suffolk 
and  return  to  England. 

A  monarchy  loves  a  decorative  figurehead. 
Louis  XII  died  lamented  by  the  middle  and 
lower  classes,  whose  protector  and  friend  he  had 
been,  but  the  nobles,  who  had  looked  upon  his 
prudence  and  moderation   in  public   and   private 


RENAISSANCE:  FRANCOIS  I      375 

expenditure  as  the  frugality  of  a  plebeian  king, 
welcomed  with  joy  the  advent  of  a  lavish,  brilliant, 
and  aristocratic  sovereign,  who  was  to  make  the 
court  the  centre  of  all  the  splendours  of  chivalry 
and  learning.  The  new  king  was  fully  alive  to 
every  phase  of  the  awakening  that  was  affecting 
the  world,  and  his  accession  began  a  new  era  for 
France.  He  was  borne  in  upon  the  crest  of  the 
Renaissance. 

In  such  a  movement  Francois  I  had  all  the 
qualities  of  a  leader.  Gallant,  brave,  generous, 
gay,  possessed  of  the  attractions  of  youth,  beauty, 
and  high  breeding,  he  fascinated  all  classes  of  his 
subjects,  and,  spending  in  his  large,  royal  way, 
there  was  no  danger  that  his  will  should  be 
curbed.  In  Italy  the  great  houses  of  Medicis,  of 
Este,  of  Visconti,  of  Sforzi,  patronized  the  talent 
and  promoted  the  research  of  the  age.  Fran9ois  I 
could  not  do  less.  Under  him  native  talent  was 
discovered  and  flourished,  while  the  king  also 
brought  into  France,  from  Italy,  such  masters  as 
could  be  lured  away  by  rich  opportunity  and 
princely  reward,  attracting  to  his  court  builders, 
painters,  sculptors,  who  worked  upon  his  palaces 
and  lived  upon  his  bounty.  Leonardo  da  Vinci 
was  his  honoured  guest  and  died  in  the  service  of  the 
king,   near  Amboise.     Primaticcio   and   II   Rosso 


376  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

were  installed  at  Fontainebleau  and  directed  the 
decoration  of  tlie  palace. 

Fran9ois  I  not  only  commenced  the  building  of 
the  present  Louvre,  he  collected  the  nucleus  of 
tlie  exhibits  it  contains,  assembling  them  at  Fon- 
tainebleau. He  purchased  with  prodigality,  from 
all  parts  of  Europe,  paintings,  sculptures,  an- 
tiques, bronzes,  medals,  jewels,  cameos,  and  other 
objects  of  art  for  his  collections.  The  Italian 
artists  of  the  time  clustered  around  his  court  like 
bees  about  the  honey  pot,  and  Benvenuto  Cellini 
gives  a  hint  of  the  jealousies  that  existed  between 
them  in  his  lament  over  Primaticcio's  purchase  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty-four  antique  statues,  and 
many  busts,  for  the  king,  as  injurious  to  the 
market  for  modern  works,  and  his  rage  against 
his  powerful  rival  is  great. 

France  has  known  three  such  wholesale  patrons 
of  art — Francois  I,  Louis  XIV,  and  Napoleon; 
between  them  they  made  the  Louvre,  but  of  the 
three  it  is  Francois  who  stands  preeminent,  it  is 
of  Fran9ois  that  we  treasure  the  choicest  memo- 
ries. In  his  superb  encouragement  of  art,  in  his 
munificent  donations  to  colleges  and  schools,  in 
the  liberality  of  his  invitations  to  scholars  and 
poets,  he  stands  unique  amidst  the  sovereigns  of 
history. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE   LOUVRE    OF    LESCOT   AND 

GOUJON 

It  was  a  desire  to  make  an  effect  before  his  old 
rival,  Charles-Quint,  that  caused  Fran9ois  I  to 
rebuild  the  Louvre.  The  emperor  was  about  to 
make  a  ceremonial  visit  to  Paris,  and  the  king 
resolved  not  to  receive  him  in  the  old  Tournelles, 
but  in  the  ancient,  historic  palace  of  his  ancestors, 
on  the  Seine.  The  Louvre  was  falling  into  decay 
and,  in  order  to  hide  its  decrepitude,  vast  sums 
were  spent  upon  repainting  and  regilding  and 
upon  the  hanging  of  tapestries  to  hide  the  crum- 
bling walls.  But  when  all  was  ready  Fran9ois, 
finding  the  palace  still  far  from  worthy  of  him- 
self or  of  his  illustrious  guest,  decided  to  throw 
down  the  whole  structure  and  to  rebuild,  within 
the  same  limits,  but  on  an  entirely  new  plan. 

The  demolition  of  the  grosse  tour  alone  took 
five  months  and  cost  a  prodigious  amount  of 
money.  The  tower  was  regretted  by  the  popu- 
lace, who  missed  the  excitement  of  seeing  nobles 
imprisoned   there,   and   its   disappearance  marked 

377 


378  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

an  epoch  in  the  history  of  France.  "  C'etait 
demoUr  I'liistoire  elle-meme,"  says  Martin  in  his 
Histoire  de  France,  "  c'etait  la  monarchie  de  la 
renaissance  abhatant  la  vielle  royaute  feodale." 

We  are  used  to  thinking  of  the  approach  to 
the  Louvre  as  from  the  Place  du  Carrousel,  from 
the  old  court  of  the  Tuileries,  now  transformed 
into  a  garden.  In  order  to  see  the  Louvre  as 
Francois  I  conceived  it  and  to  follow  its  growth 
through  the  centuries  of  its  development  we  must 
quite  reverse  the  usual  process  of  thinking  and 
approach  the  Louvre  from  Saint-Germain- 
I'Auxerrois,  remembering  that  the  Cite  was  the 
centre  of  Paris  in  those  days,  and  that  neither  the 
Tuileries,  nor  the  garden,  nor  the  Concorde,  nor 
the  Champs  Elysees,  nor  the  Etoile  existed  for 
Fran9ois  I  and  that  in  his  day  Paris  was  a  little 
place  and  that  all  behind  the  crumbling  chateau 
of  Philippe  Auguste  was  without  the  walls  and 
open  country. 

This  oldest  part  of  the  Louvre,  this  so  greatly 
admired  Renaissance  facade,  lies  before  us  to  the 
left  of  the  central  Pavilion  de  I'Horloge.  Con- 
ceived by  Fran(^ois  I  and  completed  by  his  son, 
Henri  II,  it  is  still  the  handsomest  piece  of  archi- 
tecture that  the  Louvre  has  to  show,  and  it  ranks 
as  the  most  perfect  monument  of  Fran9ois'  time. 


Photo  A.   Giraudon 


FAgADE  OF  THE  LOUVRE  OF   PIEKRE  LESCOT   AND  JEAN   GODJON. 


I'htitii   .1.   (liniiidon 
DETAIL  OF   FACADE   OF   LESCOT   AND   G0l>dO?«--  LOU\  HK.       CALLED    PAVILION    HENRI    II. 


KtT 


Photo  V.  Z. 


DETAIL  OF  FAgADE  OF  LESCOT  AND  GOUJOX. 
CALLED   PAVILION    HENRI   II. 


LOUVRE. 


DETAIL  OF   FAgADE  OF  LESCOT 

AND  GOUJON. 

LOUVRE. 

CALLED   PA\^LION    HENRI   II. 


Photo  A.  Giraudon 


THE  LOUVRE  381 

The  king  was  so  pleased  with  it  that  he  rewarded 
his  architect  by  making  him  a  canon  of  Notre- 
Dame,  abbot  of  Clermont,  and  court  counsellor. 

The  king's  architect  was  Pierre  Lescot,  a 
Frenchman  of  Italian  origin.  Lescot  had  trav- 
elled in  Italy  when  Fran9ois  I  engaged  him.  The 
chief  sculptor  was  Jean  Goujon,  a  genius  whom 
Lescot  had  discovered,  it  was  said,  at  work  upon 
the  doors  of  Saint-Maclou,  at  Rouen.  Henri  II 
confirmed  this  excellent  choice  and  the  two  artists 
share  the  honours  of  the  original  wing. 

From  1540  to  1559  were  erected  the  buildings 
of  the  southwest  angle  of  the  court  with  the 
Pavilion  de  I'Horloge,  which  Lemercier  finished 
fifty  years  later.  This  pavilion  marked  the  limit* 
of  Lescot's  plan  and  joined  the  new  palace  to  the 
remaining  walls  of  the  mediaeval  chateau  of 
Philippe  Auguste,  which  seem  to  have  stood  until 
Richelieu  pulled  them  down  after  deciding  to 
quadruple  the  original  plan. 

Lescot's  work  consisted  of  two  buildings,  form- 
ing two  angles,  with  a  principal  entrance  facing 
the  river.  The  elaborate  fa9ade  of  the  main  build- 
ing faced  the  court  of  honour;  the  other  side  of 
the  building,  which  is  quite  plain  in  comparison, 
belonged  to  the  court  of  service.  The  second 
building  formed  a  long  wing  which  runs  out  to 


382  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

the  quay  and  terminates  in  the  two  ornate  bal- 
conies with  grills.  Lescot  planned  it,  but  Pierre 
Chambige  carried  it  out,  under  Charles  IX  and 
Catherine  de  Medicis,  and  it  is  to  their  epoch  that 
belongs  the  facade  with  its  allegorical  figures  due 
to  the  chisel  of  Barthelemy  Prieur. 

The  clief-d'ceuvre,  then,  of  Lescot  and  Goujon 
is  the  facade  of  the  court  facing  the  east,  in  the 
left-hand  angle  of  the  square.  It  formed  the 
model  and  gave  the  scale  of  the  Louvre  as  orig- 
inally planned.  What  Goujon  modelled  is  worthy 
of  close  attention.  He  made  the  figures  in  half- 
relief  of  Mercury  and  Abundance,  and  the  central 
group  of  two  geniuses  supporting  the  arms  of  the 
king,  and  the  groups  of  chained  slaves  and  the 
panels  filled  with  trophies  which  separate  the 
pilasters  of  the  attic.  He  made  the  immense  frieze 
of  graceful  festoons  held  by  laughing  babies,  full  of 
elegance  and  exquisite  grace.  In  this  facade  mag- 
nificent order  vies  with  rich  decoration,  Lescot 
seems  not  to  have  had  the  heart  to  stop  the  flow 
of  the  sculptor's  genius  which  borders  on  the 
sumptuous,  but  the  lines  of  the  architecture  which 
surround  and  frame  these  different  morceaux  from 
Goujon's  chisel  complete  them  so  happily  that 
one  is  tempted  to  believe  that  Jean  Goujon  was 
the  author  of  the  whole  plan  and  ensemble. 


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f  ■ 

1 

X 

I'lioto  A.   Giraudow 

PORTRAIT  OF  CATHERINE   DE    MEDICIS    IX    1555.      ANONYMOUS. 
COLLECTION    OF   THE   BIBLIOTHEQUE   NATIONALS. 


I'hoio  A.  Oiraudon 


BUST   OF   HENRI    II.      BY   GERMAIN    PILOX. 
LOUVRE. 


THE  LOUVRE  385 

If  this  fa9ade  of  the  Louvre  is  Lescot's  master- 
piece, it  was  on  this  palace  also  that  Goujon  dis- 
played his  greatest  genius.  The  two  continued 
their  work  throughout  the  reign  of  Fran9ois  I 
and  during  the  twelve  years'  reign  of  Henri  II, 
making  the  Louvre  as  beautiful  within  as  it  was 
without.  In  the  Salle  des  Cent  Suisses,  where 
Francois  I  installed  the  antiques  brought  by 
Primaticcio,  is  the  beautiful  tribune  with  its  orna- 
ments, held  up  by  four  caryatids  about  thirteen 
feet  high,  considered  one  of  the  greatest  works 
of  Goujon.  He  decorated  the  Escalier  Henri  II, 
just  without  this  fine  room,  with  the  chiffre.  the 
arms,  and  the  emblems  of  the  king.  Everywhere 
it  is  the  device  of  Henri  II  and  not  that  of  his 
father  which  we  see — the  H  with  the  two  slender 
crescents  in  honour  of  Diane  de  Poitiers,  the 
king's  mistress.  As  Henri  finished  his  father's 
work  he  stamped  it  with  his  mark. 

Goujon  is  the  great  figure  of  the  sculpture  of 
the  French  Renaissance.  The  facts  of  his  life  are 
vague,  but  he  seems  to  have  been  born  in  Paris 
in  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  Francois  I,  to  have 
studied  in  France  and  to  have  travelled  in  Italy, 
and  his  art  is  the  most  direct  reflection  of  the 
opulent  age  which  gave  him  birth. 

The  work  attributed  to  him  upon  the  exquisite 


386  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Saint-Maclou,  at  Rouen,  makes  largely  the 
sculptural  distinction  of  that  edifice.  If  Goujon 
did  it,  it  would  be  his  earliest  known  sculpture. 
His  best-known  work  is  his  allegorical  portrait 
of  Diane  de  Poitiers,  the  favourite  of  two  genera- 
tions of  kings,  for  the  story  goes  that  Francois 
loved  her  before  Henri  chose  her  for  his  favourite. 
Henri  not  only  gave  her  Chenonceau,  the  most 
beautiful  of  the  chateaux  of  the  Loire,  he  built 
for  her  the  Chateau  d'Anet,  whose  beautiful 
fa9ade  is  one  of  the  cherished  exhibits  of  the 
court  of  the  Beaux- Arts,  another  object  saved  by 
Lenoir  from  the  madness  of  the  Revolution. 

This  portrait  statue  was  one  of  a  pair  made 
by  Goujon  for  the  court  of  the  Chateau  d'Anet. 
Lenoir  brought  it  to  Paris  and  it  is  now  in  the 
Louvre  (Salle  Jean  Goujon).  It  shows  Diana, 
the  huntress,  reclining  upon  her  stag,  while  her 
favourite  dogs,  Procion  and  Syrius,  play  about  her. 
The  urn  upon  which  she  lies  stood,  in  its  original 
setting,  upon  a  pedestal  flanked  by  four  bronze 
dogs,  and  occupied  the  middle  of  a  basin  from 
which  a  fountain  sprang. 

Since  the  Greeks  no  sculptor  had  treated  the 
nude  with  such  science,  such  refinement,  such 
souplesse.  The  head  alone  inspires  a  great 
eulogium.    The  arrangement  of  the  beautiful  hair, 


i'h'jt'j  A.  Uiraudon 


FACADE   OF  THE   CHATEAU   d'aXET. 

BUII.T    BY    HENRI    II    FOR    DIANE    DE    POITIERS. 

IN    THE   COURT   OF   THE    KCOI.E    DES    BEAUX-ARTS. 


Photo  A.   Giniudon 


DIANE    CHASSERESSE. 

GROUP  MADE  FOR  THE  CHATEAU  D'ANET. 

BY    JEAN    GOUJON. 

LOUVRE. 


DETAIL:      HEAD   OF   DIANE. 
RY   JEAN    GOUJON. 
FROM    THE    GROUP    AIADE    FOR 
THE    CHATEAU    D'ANET. 
LOUVRE. 


HP 

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1 

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1 

1 

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1 

1 

Photo  A.  Giraudon 


THE   FOUNTAIN   OF   THE   INNOCENTS. 

RECONSTRUCTED. 

FROM   THE  ORIGINAL   OF   LESCOT  AND  GOUJON. 


Photo  A.  Qiraudon 


FRIEZE   OF    THE   FONTAINE    DES    INNOCENTS. 
ORIGINAL    SCULPTURE    BY    JEAN    GOUJON.       LOUVRE. 


1      '/# 


FIGURES   FROM   THE   FONTAINE   DES   INNOCENTS. 

BY   JEAN    GOUJON. 

FKOM  CASTiS  IN  THE  TROCADEUO. 


.?t 


Photos  A.  Giraudon 


THE  LOUVRE  391 

the  finely  chiselled  profile,  the  expressive  eyes,  the 
ravishing  drawing  of  the  mouth  and  chin,  and 
the  delicately  cut  ear,  all  hespeak  the  utmost  art. 
The  body  is  distinctly  that  of  a  goddess — smooth, 
lithe,  and  long-limbed,  it  seems  like  that  of  some 
slender  faun,  alert  and  graceful,  fitted  for  the 
fleetest  chase,  gifted  with  supernatural  sense  of 
the  approach  of  quarry.  Does  she  not  even  re- 
semble her  companion  the  stag?  One  must  not 
seek  in  this  statue  the  portrait  of  the  mistress 
of  the  chateau — flattery  cannot  be  pushed  so  far. 
The  Duchess  of  Valentinois,  whose  face  even  in 
youth  was  not  attractive,  must  at  this  time  have 
passed  her  fiftieth  year. 

In  the  same  room  in  the  Louvre  are  the  panels 
— the  Descent  from  the  Cross,  and  the  Evan- 
gelists, from  the  rood-loft  of  Saint-Germain- 
I'Auxerrois,  destroyed  in  the  XVIIIth  century; 
and  a  bust  of  Henri  11. 

Goujon  decorated  the  Chateau  d'Ecouen,  the 
Hotel  Carnavalet,  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  and  the 
Porte  Saint-Antoine,  which  contained  the  four 
rehefs  representing  la  Seine,  la  Marne,  FOise, 
and  Venus  born  of  the  waves.  These  reliefs, 
after  having  figured  for  a  time  on  Beaumarchais' 
house,  are  now  in  the  Louvre. 

The  Louvre  also  contains  the  original  sculpture 


392  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

from  the  celebrated  Fountain  of  the  Innocents, 
in  which  we  see  again  the  combined  genius  of 
Pierre  Lescot  and  Jean  Goujon.  Originally 
placed  against  the  Church  of  the  Innocents,  it 
formed  a  sort  of  tribune  to  celebrate  the  entrance 
of  Henri  II  into  Paris,  upon  his  accession  to  the 
throne.  It  had  then  but  three  arcades,  between 
which  were  the  six  familiar  panels  with  the  low 
reliefs  of  water  nymphs  to  whom  the  fountain 
was  dedicated.  Each  arcade  was  surmounted  by 
a  frieze  in  relief,  while  under  the  whole  the  water 
flowed  in  a  thin  sheet  over  another  band  of  sculp- 
ture composed  of  tritons  and  genies  of  the  sea. 

It  is  this  under  frieze  which  the  Louvre  treas- 
ures, together  with  the  panels  of  the  original 
nymphs,  for  when  the  fountain  was  changed  to  its 
present  form  the  reliefs  were  found  to  be  men- 
aced by  the  humidity  and  were  taken  to  the 
museum.  Modified  in  the  form  of  a  square 
pavilion  or  loggia,  the  fountain  still  stands  in  the 
centre  of  the  Square  des  Innocents,  in  the  Rue 
Saint-Denis.  Pajou  made  the  fourth  face.  The 
great  beauty  of  the  panels  popularized  the  name 
of  Goujon  and  established  his  supremacy  in  the 
art  of  low  relief.  The  movement  of  the  mythical 
figures  of  the  frieze  is  joyous  and  abandoned,  the 


THE  LOUVRE  393 

composition    is    elegant    and    the    drawing    and 
modelling  at  once  virile  and  suave. 

The  fountain  itself  stands  in  a  shabby  neighbour- 
hood, off  the  beaten  track  of  tourists,  and  is 
often  overlooked,  but  is  so  fine  that  one  feels  well 
rewarded  for  the  effort  to  look  it  up.  Time  and 
exposure  have  given  to  the  stone  a  warm  patine 
which  adds  greatly  to  its  charm. 

The  environment  gains  also  in  significant  mem- 
ory as  having  been  the  scene  of  the  assassination 
of  Henri  IV,  who  was  killed  by  Ravaillac,  while 
driving  in  an  open  carriage  through  the  Rue  de  la 
Feronnerie,  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  and  the 
cemetery,  upon  the  site  of  the  present  square, 
formed  a  sort  of  Campo-Santo,  where,  during  six 
centuries,  more  than  half  the  population  of  Paris 
was  interred.  Rich  and  poor  seem  to  have  been 
buried  here,  the  rich  in  monumental  tombs  above 
ground  but  the  poor  were  carried  into  deep  vaults 
underground,  sometimes  twenty-five  feet  in  depth 
and  containing  as  many  as  fifteen  hundred  ca- 
davers. La  Fontaine  was  interred  in  this  place, 
and  here  Madame  de  Pompadour's  body  was  laid 
for  a  time.  When  the  cemetery  was  suppressed, 
in  the  interest  of  the  public  health,  the  coffin  of 
Louis  XV's  mistress  was   found  and  her  family 


394  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

removed  it  to  the  new  cemetery  without  the  walls 
— the  catacombs — where,  says  Soulavie,  elle  fut 
con  fondue  avec  tous  les  7norts. 

We  are  constantly  filled  with  admiration  for 
the  French  spirit  of  reconnaissance — the  word 
seems  stronger  than  its  English  equivalents, 
which  are  not  wholly  equivalent — whereby  old 
memories  are  conserved  in  the  names  of  the 
streets.  A  church  dedicated  to  the  Holy  Inno- 
cents, built  under  Louis  le  Gros,  and  torn  down 
just  previous  to  the  Revolution,  gives  the  clue  to 
the  name  of  the  square  and  the  street  which  runs 
along  its  southern  boundary.  The  cemetery  had 
existed  from  before  the  time  of  Philippe 
Auguste.  The  church  and  the  cemetery  with  its 
cloisters,  which  served  as  charnel  houses,  pre- 
sented a  bizarre  combination  of  Gothic  arcades, 
chantry  chapels,  crosses,  tombs,  monumental  tab- 
lets and  frescoes.  The  church  was  closed  in  1786 
and  the  Marche  aux  Innocents  camped  upon  the 
site  of  the  cemetery,  adapting  the  charnel  houses  as 
market  stalls.  Some  of  them  still  exist  as  taverns 
and  stables.  The  Marche  is  now  blotted  out  by 
the  vast  buildings  of  the  modern  Halles  Centrales. 
The  Rue  Pierre  Lescot  runs  past  the  west  side 
of  the  Square  des  Innocents.  The  name  ties 
together  the  association  of  the  architect  with  the 


Photo  A.  Giraudon 


CARYATIDS  A>'D  TRIBUNE.   SALLE  DES  CARIATIDES :  LOUVRE. 
SCULPTURE  BY  JEAN  GOUJON. 


MEDALLION  FROM  THE  SALLE  DES 
CARIATIDES.   BY  JEAN  GOUJON. 
LOUVRE. 


Photo   A.   GiniuiliiH 


THE  LOUVRE  397 

old  fountain,  the  sole  tangible  survivor  of  the  past. 

The   chevalier   Bernin  considered   the   fountain 
the  most  beautiful   morcedu  in  France,  as  much 
for    its    true    proportions,    the    relation    between 
architecture  and  figures,  as  for  the  delicacy  of  its- 
abandoned  naiads. 

We  have  seen  at  Saint-Germain-rAuxerrois  the 
Gothic  choir  modernized  by  the  vandal  architect, 
Bacarit,  in  1715.  At  this  time  the  noble  rood- 
loft,  designed  by  Pierre  Lescot  and  sculptured 
by  Jean  Goujon  was  removed.  Nothing  remains 
of  it  but  the  panels  contained  in  the  museum  of 
the  Louvre. 

The  two  artists  worked  together  with  singular 
felicity.  After  Fran9ois  I  died,  Henri  II  kept 
them  on  continuing  the  building  and  embellish- 
ment of  the  Louvre,  and  in  1548  the  palace  was 
so  advanced  that  Henri  II  adopted  it  as  the  resi- 
dence of  the  court.  The  palace  was  still  small; 
it  consisted  of  the  original  angle  on  the  court, 
carried  to  its  full  height,  and  of  the  wing  which 
runs  out  to  the  Seine,  which  had  only  one  storey 
— the  Galerie  d'Apolloii  over  it  was  added  by 
Henri  IV. 

There  is  an  entrance  under  the  Pavilion  de 
I'Horloge  which  conducts  the  visitor  at  once  into 
the  oldest  part  of  the  building.     It  stands  unique 


398  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

and  apart  and  commends  itself  as  a  complete 
little  visit.  Through  a  vestibule  devoted  to  the 
inevitable  checking  of  sticks  and  umbrellas,  one 
passes  at  once  into  the  famous  Salle  des  Caria- 
tides,  in  which  Fran9ois  I  installed  the  antiques 
which  Primaticcio  brought  him  from  Italy. 
Francois  intended  it  as  a  great  low-ceiled  room 
after  the  style  of  the  ancients. 

It  was  begun  about  1546  by  Pierre  Lescot  on 
the  site  of  the  chapel  and  grand'  salle  of  Saint- 
Louis,  where  this  prince  condemned  Euguerrand 
de  Coucy  to  pay  a  penalty  of  twelve  thousand 
litres  jmrisis.  The  caryatids  from  which  the  room 
takes  its  name  were  ordered  from  Goujon  in 
1550,  and  were  completed  before  the  work  on  the 
room  was  abandoned,  for  this  room  was  not  car- 
ried out  as  first  planned,  but  left  unfinished  until 
1806,  when  Napoleon's  architects,  Percier  and 
Fontaine,  developed  it  into  the  highly  ornate 
apartment  it  has  now  become.  It  is  very  grand 
and  very  consistent,  but  possibly  Lescot's  design 
gave  more  relief  to  the  caryatids,  which  are  clearly 
the  feature. 

During  the  reign  of  Henri  II  and  the  regency 
of  Catherine  de  Medicis  it  served  as  anticliamhre 
to  the  queen's  apartments  and  from  its  size  and 
magnificence  was   the   scene   of   many    important 


THE  LOUVRE  399 

events.  Here,  on  August  19,  1572,  Marguerite 
de  Valois,  daughter  of  Henri  II  and  Catherine, 
was  married  to  the  young  Protestant  king,  Henri 
of  Navarre,  afterwards  Henri  IV.  Admiral 
Coligny  and  many  other  Huguenot  leaders  were 
present  at  the  ceremony. 

This  marriage,  Catherine  j)i'^tended,  was  to 
crown  and  consummate  the  reconcilement  of  the 
two  religions,  hut  there  is  too  much  reason  to 
helieve  that  the  king  and  his  mother  had  from 
the  first  suggested  this  union  with  no  other  ohject 
than  that  of  drowning  the  day  of  its  celehration 
in  the  hlood  of  their  unsuspecting  suhjects. 

As  the  day  on  which  the  marriage  was  to  take 
pLace  approached,  the  Huguenot  gentlemen,  and 
even  numhers  of  the  humhler  orders  who  ])e- 
longed  to  that  persuasion,  flocked  to  Paris  from 
all  quarters;  and  hy  the  middle  of  August  the 
capital  had  collected  within  its  walls  nearly  all 
the  persons  of  consequence  in  France  attached  to 
the  new  faith. 

On  the  evening  of  Sunday  the  17th  the  es- 
pousals of  the  royal  pair  were  celebrated  with 
becoming  festivities  in  the  ante-room  of  the  apart- 
ments of  the  dowager  queen;  and  on  the  follow- 
ing morning  the  marriage  ceremony  was  per- 
formed  on    an   elevated    platform    erected   before 


400  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

the  great  central  door  of  Notre-Dame,  in  the 
presence  of  a  splendid  company  composed  of  both 
Catholics  and  Protestants.  The  celebrated  De 
Thou,  who  was  then  a  young  man  of  nineteen  and 
had  come  to  Paris  in  the  suite  of  the  king  of 
Xavarre,  was  present  on  this  occasion,  as  he  has 
mentioned  both  in  his  Life  and  in  his  great  his- 
torical work. 

After  the  ceremony  the  bride  and  those  of  the 
company  who  were  Catholics  advanced  to  the 
high  altar  to  hear  mass,  while  Henri,  Coligny, 
and  the  rest  of  the  Protestants  retired  into  the 
choir.  On  leaving  the  church  the  party  repaired 
to  the  bishop's  palace,  beside  the  cathedral,  where 
they  dined  and  in  the  evening  a  supper  and 
masked  ball  again  collected  the  revellers  in  the 
grand  hall  of  the  Louvre,  though  most  of  the 
Protestants  were  restrained  by  the  severity  of 
their  religious  principles  from  attending  this 
festivity. 

Five  days  later,  on  the  eve  of  Saint  Bartholo- 
mew, the  storm  broke  with  the  assassination  of 
Admiral  Coligny  and  at  midnight  on  the  23rd 
Catherine  precipitated  the  massacre  by  ordering  the 
signal  to  be  sounded  from  the  belfry  of  Saint- 
Germain-l'Auxerrois.  The  order  was  given  in  this 
room. 


THE  LOUVRE  401 

After  the  death  of  Henri  IV  his  effigy  in  wax, 
then  his  body  enclosed  in  its  coffin,  was  exposed 
in  the  Salle  des  Cariatides.  Under  Louis  XIII 
comedians,  coming  to  France  from  Florence,  gave 
performances  and  ballets  in  this  room;  here  also 
during  the  regency  of  Anne  d'Autriche  a  theatre 
was  installed  and,  on  October  24,  16.58,  Nicomede 
of  Corneille,  and  Le  Docteur  Amoureux,  of  Mo- 
liere,  a  piece  never  printed  and  to-day  lost,  were 
presented.  Moliere  played  the  role  of  the  doctor. 
After  this  performance  Louis  XIV  authorized 
Moliere's  troupe  to  take  the  name  troupe  de  Mon- 
sieur, and  to  play  in  the  Salle  du  Petit-Bourbon 
alternately  with  the  Italian  comedians. 

After  the  death  of  Henri  II,  Catherine  de 
Medicis  conceived  a  horror  of  the  old  Tournelles, 
near  which  the  king  had  been  wounded,  and  in 
which  he  had  breathed  his  last.  The  Tournelles 
apjDcars  to  have  been  the  alternative  residence  of 
the  reigning  monarch  and  would  have  been  the 
logical  dwelling  of  the  dowager,  a  state  of  dubious 
importance  to  which  the  proud  daughter  of  Lo- 
renzo de  jNIedicis  looked  forward  as  of  probable 
long  duration,  since  she  was  only  forty  years  old 
at  the  time  of  the  tragedy.  She  at  once  set  about 
providing  herself  with  a  palace  which  should  vie 
with  the  splendours  of  the  palace  of  the  reigning 


402  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

monarch,  and  in  the  meantime  established  herself 
with  her  children — there  were  seven  living — in  the 
Louvre.  rran9ois  II,  a  frail  youth  of  sixteen 
years,  was  made  the  official  king,  while  Catherine 
became  the  power  behind  the  throne,  exercising  it 
the  more  mercilessly  because  of  her  long  years  of 
insignificance  as  the  consort  of  a  monarch  whose 
whole  life  was  bound  up  in  his  infatuation  for 
another. 

During  the  twenty-six  years  of  her  marriage 
with  Henri  II  Catherine  lived  abandoned  in  the 
midst  of  the  court.  Finding  no  place  in  the  heart 
of  her  spouse,  which  was  completely  dominated 
by  the  Duchess  of  Valentinois,  she  hoped  as 
mother  to  gain  her  just  ascendency;  but  during 
ten  years  she  hoped  in  vain,  in  complete  sterility; 
then  she  gave  in  rapid  succession  ten  children  to 
the  king,  without  exercising  the  least  influence 
over  him.  Her  position  was  deplorable,  in  the 
constant  presence  of  her  rival,  of  whom  the  king 
made  a  third  at  their  table.  The  queen  suffered 
this  indignity  in  silence.  She  had,  on  the  other 
hand,  a  powerful  adversary  in  jNIontmorency,  the 
old  high  constable.  So  long  as  she  had  no  children 
he  urged  Henri  to  repudiate  her;  when  she  be- 
came a  mother  he  tried  to  rouse  suspicions  in  the 
king  as  to  her  fidelity. 


•v^f~-'- 


>  ' 


w 


>: 


•~d\ . 


Photo  A 


JIARGL'i:iUTE    DE    VALOIS     (  CAI.I.KD    LA    liEl.Xli    MARGOT) 

liRIDE    OF    IIEXRI    OF    NAVARRE. 

lUBEIOTIIKQUE    NATION  A  I.E. 

FROM    A   DRAWING   BY   FRAX^OIS   CLOUET. 


aiidon 


HENRI   OP   NAVARRE 
(HENRI    IV) 

BY  FRANCOIS    QUESKEL. 
BIBLIOTHEQUE    KATIONALE. 


riiutu  A.   Oiruiidoii. 


THE  LOUVRE  405 

The  death  of  the  king  opened  to  his  widow  a 
career  of  vengeance,  but  she  knew  how  to  restrain 
herself  to  the  advantage  of  her  ultimate  interests. 
Diane  de  Poitiers  was  still  an  important  figure, 
as  mother-in-law  to  one  of  the  princes  of  Lor- 
raine, and  Catherine  wished  to  be  at  peace  with 
this  powerful  family,  allied  to  her  own  by  the 
marriage  of  the  reigning  king,  Fran9ois  II,  with 
Mary  Stuart,  a  niece  of  the  Guises.  Catherine 
contented  herself  for  the  moment  with  merely 
demanding  of  her  old  rival  the  choice  chateau  of 
Chenonceau  on  the  Cher,  giving  her  Chaumont 
in  exchange.  Towards  ^lontmorency  she  pre- 
served the  same  temperate  attitude,  biding  her 
time. 

While  awaiting  the  construction  of  the  Tuil- 
eries,  which  was  to  furnish  her  an  abode  whose 
dignity  should  express  her  own,  the  queen  mother 
proceeded  to  enlarge  the  Louvre  in  a  style  com- 
mensurate with  the  large  family  it  now  contained. 
During  the  reign  of  her  second  son,  Charles  IX, 
the  work  was  pushed  actively  by  Pierre  Chambige. 
It  was  at  this  epoch  that  was  commenced  the 
fa9ade  with  the  sculptures  by  Prieur,  as  well  as 
the  Petite  Galerie  (to-day  the  Galerie  d'ApoUon) 
and  the  Grande  Gcderie,  parallel  to  the  Seine, 
which  is  attributed  to  Thibaut  ^Nletezeau.     Cham- 


406  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

bige  erected  a  portico  with  rooms  above  it  along 
the  quay,  connected  with  the  original  buildings 
by  means  of  the  one-storey  wing  which  Lescot 
had  planned.  This  wing  served  as  a  communica- 
tion between  the  old  logis  de  la  reine  and  the 
new  apartments  of  Catherine,  under  the  Grande 
Galerie. 

At  the  extremity  of  this  wing  opens  the  fa- 
mous so-called  balcony  of  Charles  IX,  facing  the 
quay,  where  tradition  says  he  fired  upon  the 
Huguenots,  who,  refusing  to  believe  in  the  com- 
plicity of  the  king,  were  about  to  cross  the  river 
and  offer  him  their  aid.  The  balcony  bears  the 
monogram  of  Louis  XIII  and  Anne  dAutriche, 
and  did  not  exist  at  the  time  of  the  massacre,  but 
with  its  beautiful  grills,  its  sculptured  arch,  its  gen- 
eral air  of  antiquity,  it  will  never  shed  completely 
the  tradition  of  this  horror. 

The  palace  seems  to  have  been  filled  with  con- 
fusion and  terror.  Marguerite  de  Valois  has 
given  us  in  her  memoirs  an  account  of  so  much  of 
the  tragedy  as  fell  under  her  own  observation. 
While  she  lay  asleep  in  her  apartment,  she  was 
awakened  by  a  violent  knocking  at  the  door,  and 
a  voice  crying  out,  "  Navarre!  Navarre!  "  "  My 
nurse,"  says  the  queen,  "  thinking  it  was  the  king, 


THE  LOUVRE  407 

my  husband,  ran  quickly  to  the  door.  Upon  open- 
ing it  a  gentleman  rushed  into  the  room,  bleeding 
from  wounds  in  different  parts  of  his  person, 
and  pursued  by  four  soldiers.  Seeking  fran- 
tically a  place  of  refuge,  he  threw  himself  on  the 
bed  where  I  lay.  I,  feeling  myself  caught  hold 
of  by  the  man,  threw  myself  out  of  the  bed  on 
the  floor,  he  falling  with  me  and  continuing  to 
clasp  me  around  the  body.  I  knew  not  whether 
it  was  he  or  I  that  the  soldiers  wished  to  kill;  we 
both  cried  out,  and  the  one  was  as  much  frightened 
as  the  other.  At  last,  by  the  mercy  of  God, 
M.  de  Nancy,  the  captain  of  the  guards,  made 
his  appearance,  and  finding  me  in  this  condition, 
even  while  he  had  compassion  on  me,  could  not 
restrain  himself  from  laughing.  He  reproved  the 
soldiers  for  their  violence,  made  them  leave  the 
apartment,  and  upon  my  entreaties  granted  the 
life  of  the  poor  man  who  had  hold  of  me  and 
whom  I  caused  to  be  put  to  bed  and  taken  care 
of  in  my  closet.  For  myself,  having  changed  my 
chemise,  which  was  covered  with  blood,  and  put 
on  a  nightgown,  I  passed  more  dead  than  alive 
into  the  apartment  of  my  sister,  Madame  de 
Lorraine.  While  I  was  entering  the  ante- 
chamber, the  doors  of  which  were  thrown  open,  a 


408  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

gentlenian  named  Bourse,  running  from  the  sol- 
diers who  pursued  him,  was  pierced  by  a  halbert 
three  paces  from  me." 

Lescot  seems  to  have  dropped  out  of  the  work 
on  the  Louvre  under  Catherine  de  Medicis,  but 
Jean  Goujon  continued  his  embellishments  until 
tlie  day  of  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  fate- 
ful day  of  the  massacre.  The  fact  alone  comes 
down  to  us,  with  no  reliable  account  of  the  affair. 
One  tradition  makes  the  sculptor  die  of  a  shot 
from  an  arquebus  upon  the  scaffolding  of  the 
Grande  Galerie,  chisel  in  hand;  another  in  the 
Cimitiere  des  Innocents,  retouching  the  sculpture 
of  his  fountain.  But  the  fountain  had  been 
finished  years  before,  and  it  seems  unlikely  that 
Goujon,  who  was  a  Huguenot,  would  have  ex- 
posed himself  upon  the  Louvre,  which  men  of  his 
religion  were  fleeing  for  their  lives,  while  others 
were  being  cut  down  under  the  eye  of  the  king 
himself,  and  so  the  manner  of  his  end  remains 
a  mystery. 

Of  this  first  great  flowering  of  the  Renaissance, 
in  France,  Jean  Goujon  stands  out  as  the  most 
expressive  figure.  We  have  said  that  he  sub- 
mitted his  art  to  the  taste  of  the  reign  wliich 
brought  him  into  prominence.  As  the  great  un- 
known Gothic  sculptors  reflected  the  mystery  and 


THE  LOUVRE  409 

spiritual  influences  of  their  time,  so  Jean  Goujon 
was  caught  up  with  the  growing  opulence  and 
power  of  the  court.  His  individuality  seems 
merged  with  that  of  Francois  I,  of  Henri  II,  of 
Diane  de  Poitiers. 

He  had  an  exquisite  sentiment  of  elegance  and 
of  feminine  grace,  of  the  luxuriant  forms  of  in- 
fants, and  of  the  allure  of  youth.  His  instinct  was 
strong  for  monumental  decoration,  which  he  con- 
ceives in  his  own  way.  His  work  has  character^ 
poetry,  sentiment,  sumptuous  beauty,  appealing 
charm.  In  it  is  no  trace  of  definite  influence. 
He  had  no  master,  followed  no  tradition,  be- 
longed to  no  school. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  LOUVRE:  DEVELOPMENT  AND 
ACHIEVEMENT 

Under  the  reign  of  Henri  II  the  Louvre  oc- 
cupied about  30,000  square  metres  of  space.  But 
Catherine  de  Medicis  found  it  still  small  for  the 
large  royal  family  clustered  about  her.  Under 
the  reign  of  her  third  son,  Henri  III,  four  queens 
had  their  suites  there — the  reigning  queen,  Louise 
de  Vaudemont;  the  dowager,  Catherine  de 
Medicis;  Marguerite  de  Valois,  queen  of  Na- 
varre; and  Elisabeth  d'Autriche,  widow  of 
Charles  IX. 

Meanwhile  Catherine  had  provided  for  herself 
the  magnificent  palace  of  the  Tuileries,  built  at 
some  distance  from  the  then  existing  parts  of  the 
Louvre,  and  without  the  walls  of  the  city.  The 
palace,  which  took  its  name  from  a  manufactory 
of  tiles  which  had  formerly  occupied  the  site, 
succeeded  to  a  villa  which  Louise  de  Savoie  had 
o])tained  from  her  son,  Francois  I,  with  the  old 
tile  works,  as  a  place  of  residence  during  his 
reign.     After  her  death,   in   1531,  her  villa  con- 

410 


ITS  DEVELOPMENT  411 

tinued  to  be  a  property  at  the  disposal  of  royal 
favourites  until  Catherine  took  it,  and,  adding  con- 
siderably to  the  domain,  employed  Philibert  De- 
lorme  to  erect  for  her  a  palace  in  keeping  with 
her  illustrious  ancestry  and  her  own  ambitions. 

The  Tuileries  stood  first  as  a  detached  build- 
ing, whose  chief  facade  lay  upon  the  present  Rue 
des  Tuileries.  It  was  approached  from  the  Cour 
des  Tuileries,  where  now  stands  the  Arc  de  Tri- 
omphe  du  Carrousel,  and  in  the  rear  stretched  the 
beautiful  garden  of  the  palace.  The  stones  for 
the  building  were  brought  from  the  quarries  of 
Vaugirard  and  Notre-Dame-des-Champs,  and  in 
order  to  cross  the  river,  where  is  now  situated  the 
Pont  Royal,  a  ferry,  or  hac,  was  established, 
leased  to  the  communit}^  in  1564.  A  road  was 
opened  up  on  the  jive  gauclie  for  the  carting  of 
stones  for  the  palace,  and,  since  it  led  directly  to 
the  ferry  became  the  Rue  du  Bac. 

The  palace  consisted  of  a  central  body  with  a 
tower  and  wings  terminating  in  square  pavilions. 
The  grand  avant-corps  du  milieu  was  erected  by 
Delorme — he  built  the  fa9ade  towards  the  garden 
■ — and  the  ends  bv  Jean  Bullant,  who  continued 
the  work  after  the  death  of  his  predecessor.  The 
palace  was  noble  in  form  and  of  a  picturesqueness 
not  attained  by  other  portions  of  the  long  ram- 


412  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

bling  buildings  of  the  Louvre  itself,  than  which, 
having  been  done  under  one  inspiration,  it  had 
more  comj^leteness  and  unity.  It  gave  point  and 
climax  to  the  now  rather  meaningless  gardens, 
designed  as  a  foil  to  the  majestic  fa9ade  of  the 
palace.  The  gardens  were  completely  done  over 
by  Lenotre,  under  Louis  XIV,  and  as  Paris  grew 
towards  the  west,  Delorme's  facade  became  the 
familiar  one  and  was  magnificently  approached 
from  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  through  the  long 
gardens  laid  out  in  groves  of  chestnut  trees  and 
handsomely  terraced.  The  palace  was  destroyed 
by  the  Commune  in  1871. 

When  Marie  de  Medicis  came  to  Paris  to  re- 
place the  divorced  Marguerite  de  Valois  as  queen 
of  France,  she  is  said  to  have  regarded  with  dis- 
dainful amusement  the  proportions  of  the  Louvre,, 
which  to  her  eye,  accustomed  to  measure  palaces 
by  the  Pitti  and  the  Vatican,  seemed  a  little  place 
in  comparison  with  its  destiny. 

Henri  IV,  piqued  perhaps  by  his  scornful 
bride,  now  planned  an  immense  extension  of  the 
Louvre  which  should  unite  the  palace  with  the 
Tuileries.  Du  Cerceau,  who  built  the  Pont-Neuf, 
and  Louis  Metezeau  were  his  architects.  He 
first  extended  the  Tuileries  of  Delorme  and  Bul- 
lant  from  the  southern  pavilion   out  towards  the 


CATHERINE   DE   MEDICIS. 

VROM    a   DKAWING  :    AXONYMOUS. 

IN    THE    lilBLlOTHEQUE   NATIOXALE. 


Photo  A.  Girau(]on 


''/  if  - 


Photo  A.  Oiraudon 
LA  REINE   MARGOT,   ABOUT    1573. 
ANONV.MOrs    DRAWING    AT    THE    BIBLIOTHKQUE    NATIONAI.E. 


ITS  DEVELOPMENT  415 

Seine  and  continued  the  galeries  du  hord  de  I'eau 
from  where  Catherine  de  Medicis  had  left  off, 
about  opposite  the  present  Pont  du  Carrousel, 
along  the  Quai  des  Tuileries  to  their  junction  with 
the  newer  palace  and  here  he  planted  an  immense 
pavilion — the  Pavilion  de  Flore — of  which  we 
see  to-day  a  conscientious  reproduction.  The  por- 
ticos of  Catherine  de  Medicis  were  then  enclosed 
and  a  new  fa9ade  added  to  the  whole  of  the 
Grande  Galerie,  to  make  it  harmonise  with  the 
later  constructions.  In  1618  this  immense  gallery 
was  completed  and  bound  the  Louvre  and  Tuil- 
eries together. 

,  The  fa9ade  of  the  long  gallery,  extending  along 
the  Quai  du  Louvre,  from  the  balcony  of  Charles 
IX  to  the  Pavilion  de  Lesdiguieres,  is  full  of 
interesting  ornament  and  sculpture  in  relief,  of 
the  time  of  Henri  IV.  We  see  his  initial  with 
a  multitude  of  devices  signifying  royalty  and 
power,  trophies  of  war,  as  well  as  shells  and 
tridents  in  allusion  to  the  situation  of  the  facade 
bordering  the  Seine.  The  Porte  Jean  Goujon, 
which  opens  in  about  the  middle  of  this  exten- 
sion, is  a  rich  monument  of  renaissance  architec- 
ture. 

Over    the    wing    containing    the     balcony     of 
Charles  IX,  Henri  IV  now  completed  the  cele- 


416  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

brated  Gale  He  d'Apollon  as  a  link  between  the 
upper  storej^  of  the  Louvre  of  his  predecessors 
and  his  additions.  The  Galerie  d'Apollon  was 
burned  out  under  Louis  XIV  in  1661,  and  re- 
built from  designs  by  Charles  Le  Brun,  who 
directed  the  decorations  at  Versailles.  Le  Brun 
left  the  mural  paintings  unfinished;  he  had  in- 
tended a  figure  of  Apollo  to  be  the  central  point 
of  his  scheme  in  honour  of  the  Eoi-Soleil.  The 
cele})rated  ceiling,  representing  Apollo's  victory 
over  Python,  is  the  work  of  Eugene  Delacroix,  one 
of  the  two  greatest  masters  of  his  epoch.  It  was 
done  under  the  Second  Republic,  in  1849. 

The  Galerie  d'Apollon  is  now  the  most  beau- 
tiful hall  in  the  Louvre  and  ranks  with  the  finest 
in  the  world.  An  interesting  and  appropriate 
feature  of  the  decoration  is  the  series  of  portraits 
of  the  builders  of  the  Louvre — the  kings,  the 
architects,  the  sculptors,  and  the  painters  who 
worked  upon  it  at  different  periods,  done  in 
Gobelins  tapestries.  It  is  a  gallery  of  distin- 
guished men,  and  the  whole  decoration  makes  one 
of  those  charming  bits  of  association  and  recogni- 
tion for  which  France  is  famous. 

Three  rooms  installed  in  the  wing  of  the  court 
which  overlooks  Saint-Germain-lAuxerrois  and 
known  as  Les  Anciennes  Salles  du  31  usee   des 


■Hi 


■^.4  4* 


CHARLES    IX,   IN    1570. 

FROM    A    DRAWING   BY   FRANgOIS    CLOUET. 

IN    THE    BIBLIOTHEQUE    NATIONALE. 


ELISABETH    D'aUTRICHE,    ABOUT    1570, 
WIFE   OF    CHARLES    IX. 

FROM    A   PAINTING   BY  FRANCOIS    CLOUET. 
IN   THE  LOUVRE. 


•."^ 


Ph-jto  A.  Oiraudon 


Photo  A.  Giraudon 


ITS  DEVELOPMENT  419 

Souveraius  are  amongst  the  most  beautiful  which 
the  Louvre  has  to  show  and  contain  much  that 
relates  to  the  early  history  of  the  building.  En- 
tering by  the  stairway  of  the  Egyptian  Museum, 
the  first  room  is  panelled  from  the  apartments 
which  Louis  XIII  prepared  for  Anne  of  Austria 
in  the  chateau  of  Vincennes. 

The  second  room,  called  the  Chamhre  a  VAl- 
cove,  is  panelled  with  handsome  wood  carving  from 
the  Salle  des  Sept  Cheminees  erected  under  Fran- 
9ois  I  and  Henri  11.  This  specimen  and  that  in 
the  room  adjoining  are  the  only  carvings  of  the 
royal  apartments  now  extant.  The  doors  are  rich 
in  the  devices  of  these  kings,  and  the  panelling 
shows  the  letters  of  Henri  and  Diane  interlaced. 
The  alcove  is  historic  as  the  body  of  Henri  IV 
was  laid  there  after  his  murder,  and  the  four 
cherubs  which  sustain  the  canopy  are  by  Gilles 
Guerin. 

In  the  third  room — La  Chamhre  de  la  Parade 
— the  panelling  is  again  from  the  older  part  of 
the  Louvre,  while  the  faded  tapestries  belonged 
to  cardinal  Mazarin.  These  rooms  have  been 
much  despoiled  of  their  former  installation,  chiefly 
due  to  the  energy  and  historic  interest  of  the 
Empress  Eugenie.  Though  they  merely  reassem- 
ble parts  of  the  older  building,  they  have  never- 


420  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

theless  a  convincing  air  of  antiquity  and  are  of  the 
finest  of  their  day. 

After  Henri  IV,  Marie  de  Medicis  abandoned 
the  Louvre  and  turned  her  entire  attention  to 
the  erection  of  her  dowager  palace,  the  Luxem- 
bourg, to  which  after  the  conclusion  of  the  minor- 
ity of  Louis  XIII,  she  expected  to  retire  in  glory. 
The  first  kings  which  came  after  Henri  IV  occu- 
pied themselves  with  completing  the  square 
around  the  original  court,  making  it  four  times 
the  size  of  the  old  chateau  of  Philippe  Auguste. 
The  new  buildings  of  Francois  I  had  merely 
replaced  the  original  walls  on  the  two  sides  of  the 
quadrangle  which  formed  the  court  of  the 
mediaeval  fortress;  but  Louis  XIII  and  Richelieu 
quadrupled  the  plan.  As  one  regards  attentively 
the  famous  fa9ade  of  Lescot  it  becomes  more  and 
more  evident  that  it  belongs  to  a  small,  compact 
building  and  that  it  loses  considerably  in  being 
thinned  out  to  cover  the  four  sides  of  a  so  greatly 
enlarged  court. 

Under  Louis  XIII  the  last  vestiges  of  the 
medieval  chateau  were  thrown  down.  Jacques 
Lemercier  was  now  the  court  architect;  he  com- 
pleted the  facade  of  the  Pavilion  de  I'Horloge 
which  became  the  centre  of  the  west  side  of  the 
court.     It  is  adorned  in  a  style  flamboyant  as  com- 


Plioto  A.  Girauaon 


HENBI  IV. 

BY   BARTHELEMY   PBIEUK. 

LOUXTJE. 


WWnk  DilOWlKEFUllDtCOMnLOE 


LOUISE  DE  VAUDEMONT, 
WIFE  OF   HENRI   III. 
FROM   A   DRAWING 
(SCHOOL   OF  DUMOUSTIER) 
IN  THE  LOUVRE 


I'lmtij  A.   Giraudon 


ITS  DEVELOPMENT  423 

pared  to  the  fa9ade  of  Lescot  and  Goujon,  and 
bears  eight  caryatids  by  Sarazin  and  other  sculp- 
tures by  Guerin,  Poissant,  etc.  Lemercier  com- 
menced at  the  same  time  the  ground  floor  of  the 
north  wing,  on  the  side  of  the  Rue  de  Rivoh. 
Marie  de  iNIedicis  and  Anne  d'Autriche  apphed 
themselves  to  the  embellishment  of  the  interior,  sec- 
onded by  the  talents  of  Ambroise  Dubois,  de  Biard, 
and  Michel  Anguier.  Lemercier  repeated  in  a 
general  way  the  facade  of  Lescot,  and  the  frieze  of 
garlands  and  babies  so  happily  conceived  by 
Goujon  was  copied  for  the  whole  of  the  four  sides 
of  the  enlarged  court. 

Louis  XIV  completed  the  court,  employing  as 
his  architect,  his  physician,  Claude  Perrault,  to 
whom  we  owe  the  colonnade  which  bears  his 
name  (1667-1670).  This  colonnade  has  a  certain 
style  and  character,  though  it  may  be  taken  as 
a  clear  indication  of  the  point  at  which  the 
French  Renaissance  in  its  decline  began  to  follow 
slavishly  the  models  of  antique  architecture,  and 
it  bears  little  relation  to  the  original  plan  or  to 
the  magnificent  facade  of  Henri  IV,  to  which  one 
returns  with  always  increasing  interest  and  pleas- 
ure. After  this  great  eff'ort  Louis  XIV  lost 
interest   in   the   Louvre   in    devoting   himself 


424  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

tirely    to    the    building    of    Versailles,    his    great 
architectural  monument. 

Louis  XV  spent  some  few  years  of  his  minority 
at  the  Tuileries,  but  Versailles  was  his  favourite 
residence  and  Louis  XVI  lived  either  at  Ver- 
sailles or  Saint-Cloud  until  he  was  brought  to 
Paris  as  a  prisoner  and  condemned  to  live  at  the 
Tuileries  from  1789  to  1792. 

Meanwhile  the  Louvre  remained  an  unfinished 
pile  until  Napoleon  came  to  the  throne.  It  was  in 
the  year  1800  that  Bonaparte  first  came  to  reside 
at  the  Tuileries.  The  palace  still  bore  the  placards 
inscribed  with  the  decree  of  August  10,  1792: 
"  La  royaute  en  France  est  abolie  et  ne  se 
relevera  jamais."  Soon  after  the  fleur-de-lys  was 
picked  out  of  the  furniture  of  the  Tuileries  to  be 
replaced  by  the  bee  of  the  Bonapartes. 

•The  Tuileries  after  so  much  tragedy  now  entered 
upon  its  most  thrilling  times.  In  the  chapel 
Napoleon  was  married  to  Josephine,  who  had  long 
been  his  wife  by  the  civil  law.  Berthier  and 
Talleyrand  were  the  witnesses  and  cardinal  Fesch 
performed  the  ceremony.  Here  also  the  emperor 
received  Pius  VII  (the  pope  was  lodged  in  the 
Pavilion  de  Flore)  ;  thence  he  went  to  his  corona- 
tion, here  he  married  his   different  brothers   and 


ITS  DEVELOPMENT  425 

sisters,    and   here   the   divorce   of   Josephine    was 
pronounced. 

Napoleon  commanded  the  completion  of  the 
Louvre  upon  a  large  scale  in  1805,  recommend- 
ing his  architects,  Percier  and  Fontaine,  in  con- 
structing the  north  connecting  gallery  between 
the  Louvre  and  the  Tuileries,  to  provide  vast 
apartments  for  the  vassal  sovereigns  whom  he 
should  lead  back  from  his  triumphant  campaign 
in  Russia!  This  wing  had  been  completed  as  far 
as  the  Pavilion  de  Rohan  when  the  emperor  was 
deposed. 

Napoleon  also  built  the  Arc  de  Triomphe  du 
Carrousel  to  commemorate  his  victories  in  1805. 
Percier  and  Fontaine  were  the  architects  and 
built  it  in  imitation  of  the  Arch  of  Septimus 
Severus,  at  Rome.  Napoleon  brought  from 
Venice  the  famous  bronze  horses  of  the  cathe- 
dral, in  1797,  and  they  graced  this  arch  until  1815, 
when  they  were  restored  to  Venice,  and  to  their 
noble  situation  over  the  portal  of  San  Marco. 
Forming  once  part  of  an  ancient  quadriga  these 
horses  were  amongst  the  most  valuable  of  the  loot 
which  Napoleon  brought  from  Italy.  The  pres- 
ent quadriga  was  designed  by  Bosio.  The  marble 
reliefs  on  the  sides  represent  the  Battle  of  Aus- 


426  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

terlitz,  the  capitulation  of  Ulm,  the  peace  of 
Tilsit,  and  the  entry  into  Munich.  On  the  north 
end  is  the  entry  into  Vienna,  and  on  the  south 
end  the  conclusion  of  peace  at  Pressburg. 

The  unity  of  the  Louvre  and  Tuileries  was 
finally  achieved  by  Napoleon  III,  to  whom  we 
owe  the  ponderous  fa9ades  with  their  projecting 
domed  pavilions,  their  Corinthian  columns,  their 
porticos  and  caryatids,  their  eighty-six  statues  of 
celebrated  Frenchmen,  and  their  sixty-three  groups 
of  allegorical  statues.  Visconti  and  Lefuel  were  the 
architects,  and  the  most  admirable  part  of  their 
work  is  the  restoration  of  the  Pavilion  de  Flore 
and  the  fa9ade  along  the  Quai  des  Tuileries, 
which  had  been  destroyed  or  damaged  by  the  fire 
of  1871.  It  is  interesting  to  compare  the  details 
of  the  ornament  and  to  note  that  the  bee  of  the 
Bonapartes  replaces  the  fleur-de-lys  and  the  im- 
perial eagle  the  winged  rod  and  the  entwined  ser- 
pents of  the  Bourbons. 

The  Second  Empire  executed  merely  what  the 
republic  had  planned  in  1848.  From  1848  to 
1853  Duban  restored,  from  the  designs  of  Le 
Brun,  the  Galerie  d'Apollori,  which  had  been 
ruined  by  the  fire  of  1661.  In  1857  Napoleon  III 
inaugurated  the  noiiveau  Louvre  built  by  Lefuel 
upon  the  plans  of  Visconti.     We  owe  to  Lefuel 


aw 


Pli'itd   A     Girniidon 


ARC   DE   TRIOMPHE   DU    CARROrSEL. 
PERCIER    AND   FONTAINE,    ARCHITECTS. 
BUILT    BY   XAPOLEON    IN    1805. 


I'hoto  A.  Giraudon 
THE    WINDOW   OF  CHARLES   IX. 
LOUVRE. 


I'liulij  A.  Giraudon 
FRAGMENT   OF  THE   PAI.AIS   DES   TUILERIES. 
BY   PHILIBERT   DELORME. 
GARDEN    DES    TUILERIES. 


ITS  DEVELOPMENT  429 

the  actual  buildings  which  border  the  Seine  from 
the  Pavilion  Lesdiguieres  to  the  Pavilion  de 
Flore  inclusive,  and  which  replace  the  original 
constructions  of.  Du  Cerceau.  The  three  large 
arches  which  open  upon  the  Place  du  Carrousel 
were  part  of  Visconti's  plan. 

An  army  of  sculptors  was  now  employed  in  the 
decoration.  Amongst  the  most  notable  were 
Barye,  Simart,  Duret,  Foyatier,  Jaley,  Auguste 
Dumont,  Rude,  Carpeaux,  Perraud,  Cavelier, 
Eugene  Guillaume,  Aime  Millet,  and  Jouffroy. 
A  high-relief  in  bronze  by  Antonin  Mercie — the 
Genius  of  the  Arts  astride  Pegasus — crowns  the 
whole. 

In  1900  the  great  Salle  Rubens  was  opened  in 
the  former  salle  des  Etats,  with  the  chain  of  small 
rooms  which  surround  it,  and  with  the  installa- 
tion of  the  magnificent  series  of  decorations  from 
the  Luxembourg  Palace  the  work  on  the  Louvre 
was  terminated.  After  more  than  three  centuries 
of  activity  the  Louvre  was  now  finished. 

In  its  older  parts  the  Louvre  unites  some  of 
the  finest  work  of  that  group  of  valiant  architects 
produced  by  the  first  period  of  the  French  Renais- 
sance— Pierre  Lescot,  Philibert  Delorme,  Jean 
Bullant,  Pierre  Chambige,  Jacques-Androuet  Du 
Cerceau — whose  genius  was  sufficient  to  counter- 


430  A  i^OlTERER  IN  PARIS 

balance  the  influences  of  the  Italians  quartered 
at  Fontainebleau.  Thanks  to  them  the  second 
period  of  the  Renaissance,  the  period  frankly 
classic,  far  from  descending  as  one  might  have 
feared  to  the  level  of  rank  imitation,  opened  a 
new  route  and  became  an  occasion  if  not  for  great 
creations  like  those  of  the  Xlllth  century,  at 
least  for  original  combinations  and  dispositions  at 
once  elegant,  picturesque,  delicate,  and  rich. 

The  chateaux  of  Blois,  Gaillon  (part  of  its 
fa9ade  is  at  the  Beaux-Arts),  Azay-le-Rideau, 
Chenonceau,  Amboise,  Usse,  Tanlay,  Ancy-le- 
Franc,  Verneuil,  Vaux,  Maisons,  the  old  chateaux 
of  Versailles,  the  Tuileries,  the  Louvre,  Fontaine- 
bleau, etc.,  are  amongst  the  most  brilliant  and 
richest  productions  of  the  French  Renaissance  in 
its  divers  periods.  In  these  dwelhngs  there  exists 
nothing  of  the  feudal  castle, — no  more  dungeons, 
towers,  turrets,  winding  passages;  these  are  large 
open  palaces,  easy  of  access,  surrounded  by  mag- 
nificent gardens,  decorated  inside  with  paintings, 
offering  an  application  of  antique  forms  if  you 
like,  but  full  of  taste  and  preserving  a  character 
essentially  original  and  French. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
FOUNDATIONS  OF  THE  MUSEUM 

The  Louvre  as  a  museum  dates  from  the  Revo- 
lution. Its  chief  splendours  are  due  to  the  three 
kings  we  have  already  mentioned — Francois  I, 
Louis  XIV,  and  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  Fran9ois 
was  the  genuine  amateur,  Louis  the  rapacious 
collector,  and  Napoleon  the  prodigious  robber, 
whose  magnificent  appropriations  make  the 
crowning  feature  of  the  collections.  To  these 
three  chief  figures  it  is  oidy  fair  to  add  that  rare 
altruist,  Alexandre  Lenoir,  of  whom  we  have 
talked  so  much,  the  artist  who  risked  even  his  life 
to  save  for  France  and  for  posterity  the  treasures 
which  the  Revolutionists  were  doing  their  utmost 
to  destroy. 

When  the  Tuileries  became  the  uneasy  seat  of 
the  royal  family  during  the  Reign  of  Terror,  the 
Louvre  was  turned  over  as  a  storage  house  for 
the  royal  collections  which  the  government  was 
seizing  and  making  national  property.  To  the 
riches  of  the  Cabinet  du  Hoy  pouring  in  from 
Versailles  were   added   in   a   short   time   those   of 

431 


432  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

the  Convent  of  the  Petits-Augustins.  On  Au- 
gust 10,  1793,  the  Convention  decreed  the  founda- 
tion of  the  national  museum. 

As  Francois  dominates  as  the  first  genuine 
patron  of  the  arts,  so  the  pictures  which  remain 
from  his  collection  at  Fontainebleau  speak  from 
the  walls  of  the  present  museum  with  a  special 
appeal,  as  paintings  bought  not  solely  for  the 
aggrandizement  of  a  monarch,  but  selected  by  a 
man  of  taste  because  of  their  intrinsic  merits. 
That  Francois  was  innately  an  artistic  personality 
seems  evident  from  his  portraits  alone,  but  that 
his  natural  tastes  were  stimulated  by  his  wars  in 
Italy  there  can  be  no  question.  Amongst  the 
painters  and  sculptors  invited  to  his  court  were 
Leonardo  da  Vinci,  Andrea  del  Sarto,  Benvenuto 
Cellini,  Primaticcio,  and  Nicola  del  Abbate.  In 
his  enthusiasm  he  had  cast  a  bronze  reproduction 
of  Trajan's  column,  and  even,  with  something  of 
Napoleon's  greed,  strove  to  remove  from  the  walls 
of  the  refectory  of  the  Convent  of  Santa  Maria 
delle  Grazie,  at  Milan,  Leonardo's  famous  Last 
Supper,  only  desisting  for  fear  of  injury  to  the 
fresco. 

The  famous  Joconde  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci 
formed  the  dou  of  the  collection  at  Fontaine- 
bleau;  to   this    the   king   added    the    Saint-Jean- 


Pliittu  Biuun  et  Cie. 


LA   JOCOXDE. 

BY    LEOXARDO   DA    VIXCI. 

FROM  THE  CABINET  OF  FRANQOIS  I. 

LOUVRE. 


Photo  Braun  et  Vie. 


Charite. 

by  andrea  del  sarto, 

painted  for  francois  i  at  fontainebleau. 

LOtTVRE. 


Photo  Alinari 


CHARLES  I  OF  EXGLAND. 

BY  ANTON  VAN  DYCK. 

PAINTED  FOR  CHARLES  I. 

"  CABINET  X)U  ROY  "  LOUIS  XIV, 

LOUVRE. 


Photo  X 


L>AURA   DE   DIA.N'TI   BY    TITIAN. 

ORIGINALLY    FORMING    PART    OF    CHARLES    l"S    COLLECTION. 

"  CABINET     I)U    ROY  "    LOLLS    XIV, 

LOUVRE. 


FOUNDATIONS  OF  THE  MUSEUM     437 

Baptiste,  found  at  the  chateau  of  Cloux  in  the 
painter's  atelier  after  his  death,  La  Vierge  an^ 
Bochers,  and  the  large  canvas  depicting  the  Vir- 
gin with  the  Infant  Jesus  and  Sainte-Anne,  as 
well  as  the  portrait  commonly  known  as  the  Belle 
Ferronniere,  but  now  thought  to  be  Lucrezia 
Crevelli,  the  favourite  of  Ludovic  le  More. 

Leonardo  is  also  thought  to  have  painted  the 
smaller  canvas,  which  is  now  labelled  La  Belle 
Ferronniere,  but  in  which  some  experts  have 
thought  to  trace  the  features  of  Marguerite  de 
Valois,  the  sister  of  P^ran^ois  I.  This  came  to 
the  royal  collections  under  Louis  XIV.  La  Belle 
Ferronniere  was  a  mistress  of  Francois  I,  a 
woman  of  some  importance,  since  the  untimely 
death  of  the  gallant  monarch  was  attributed  in- 
directly to  her. 

To  Francois  I  we  owe  also  the  supremely  beau- 
tiful Charite,  by  Andrea  del  Sarto,  painted  for 
the  king  in  1518.  This  lovely  madonna  is  one 
of  the  glories  of  the  Louvre  and  in  harmony  of 
colour  and  elegance  of  composition  exemplifies 
Renaissance  painting  at  its  most  detached  from  all 
religious  inspiration.  The  hues  of  the  little  nude 
bodies  of  the  children  seem  to  flow  together,  so 
charming  are  the  poses,  so  freely  childlike  their 
abandon.     The  head  of  Charity  is  noble;  the  drap- 


438  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

ery  is  painted  with  Greek  feeling.  In  colour 
and  quality  this  picture  seems  to  stand  apart; 
and  had  Fran9ois  given  us  nothing  else  this  con- 
tribution would  still  have  been  great  and  memor- 
able. 

But  from  Fontainebleau  came  also  the  great 
Visitation,  of  Sebastiano  del  Piombo  (Luciani), 
acquired  by  the  king,  in  1521,  a  work  of  power 
and  dramatic  intensity;  the  Belle  Jardiniere  of 
Raphael  and  by  the  same  master  the  large  Saint 
Michel  and  the  Dragon  and  the  Holt/  Family  given 
by  Lorenzo  de  Medicis  to  Francois  and  the  queen 
of  France.  Francois'  collection  contained  the  cele- 
brated portrait  of  the  king,  said  to  have  been 
painted  after  a  medal,  by  Titian,  and  the  two  more 
delightful  portraits  of  the  monarch  by  the  contem- 
porary French  painter  Jehannet  Clouet.  The 
Nymph  of  Fontainebleau,  a  lunette  in  relief,  was 
modelled  by  Benvenuto  Cellini  for  the  entrance  of 
the  palace,  but  never  placed;  Diane  de  Poitiers 
begged  it  of  Henri  II  for  her  Chateau  d'Anet.  It 
hangs  amongst  the  Italian  sculpture  of  its  epoch  in 
the  Louvre. 

As  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  XVIIth  cen- 
tury the  royal  collections  numbered  about  two 
hundred  works  and  formed,  in  the  Palace  of  Fon- 
tainebleau, a  museum  which  was  the  chief  source 


Phntu   A.   Otruudou 


MYSTIC    MARRIAGE    OF    SAINTE-CATHERIXE.      BY    CORREGGIO. 
ORIGINALLY   FOR^rI^G   PART   OF    MAZARIN'S   COLLECTION. 
"  CABINET   DU   ROY  "   LOUIS   XIV, 
L'OUVRE. 


TITIAN'S    ENTOMBMENT. 

ORIGINALLY   FORMING   I'ART    OF 

CHARLES    I'S    COLLECTION. 

"  CABINET    VU    ROY  "    LOUIS   XIV, 

LOUVRE. 


Photo  A.   Oiratidon 


FOUNDATIONS  OF  THE  MUSEUM    441 

of  inspiration  and  study  for  the  young  French 
painters  of  the  day. 

Under  Louis  XIV  the  general  collections  were 
assembled  and  enriched  by  the  king's  enterprising 
minister,  Colbert,  who  brought  to  the  completion 
of  the  royal  cabinet  the  energy  which  characterized 
all  his  undertakings.  But  this  was  no  longer  the 
labour  of  love  that  Francois  had  commenced. 
One  suspects  Louis  XIV  of  having  but  mediocre 
artistic  judgment,  if  by  no  other  proof  than  his 
making  Le  Brun  supreme  at  Versailles.  Colbert 
had  the  real  collector's  passion,  as  we  now  under- 
stand it — time,  trouble,  and  expense  were  not 
spared.  Ready-made  collections  had  also  already 
begun  to  change  hands,  and  the  minister  was  able 
to  add,  in  1661,  with  one  gesture  the  splendid 
collection  left  by  the  death  of  cardinal  Mazarin, 
who  was  a  real  connoisseur;  and  ten  years  later  he 
purchased  the  magnificent  collection  of  the 
banker,  Jabach,  of  Cologne,  rich  in  great  works 
bought  at  the  sale  of  the  collections  of  Charles  I, 
of  England.  Colbert  systematized  the  business  of 
making  Louis  XIV's  cabinet  one  of  the  most 
notable  of  all  time,  and  posted  agents  in  all  the 
chief  cities  with  instructions  to  miss  nothing  avail- 
able.    Naturally  the  royal  collection  grew  apace. 

When  all  was  ready  the  pictures  were  carried 


442  A  LOITERER  IX  PARIS 

to  Paris  and  installed  for  the  first  time  in  the  old 
palace  of  the  Louvre.  The  Mercure  Galant  of 
December,  1681,  gives  an  account  of  the  affair 
from  which  we  learn  that  the  exhibition  occupied 
seven  very  large  and  very  high  halls  of  the 
Louvre  itself  and  four  others  in  the  "  old  hostel 
de  Grammont,"  adjoining.  The  pictures  were 
hung  solid  to  the  cornices  and  the  Mercure  notices 
sixteen  by  Raphael,  ten  by  Leonardo,  eight  by 
Giorgione,  four  by  Palma  Vecchio,  twenty-three 
by  Titian,  eighteen  by  Paolo  Veronese,  fourteen 
bv  Van  Dyck,  etc.  An  inventory  enumerates  2403 
paintings. 

Louis  XIV  made  an  official  visit.  One  can 
see  him  with  his  curled  wig,  his  long  coat,  his 
silk  hose,  his  frills  and  furbelows,  walking  grandly 
through  the  rooms,  with  that  Vetat-c'est-moi  ex- 
pression and  the  pompous  air  of  a  connoisseur. 
He  seems  to  have  made  one  memorable  remark 
to  Colbert,  who  accompanied  him :  "  Otez-moi  ces 
magots  la  "  was  the  royal  comment  upon  the  mar- 
vellous collection  of  Teniers  upon  which  his  min- 
ister particularly  prided  himself.  But  Colbert 
knew  better  and  they  now  form  one  of  the  chief 
boasts  of  the  ffallerv. 

How  England  must  regret  the  rash  dispersal 
of   Charles    I's    treasures!      From   his    collections 


fiiolo   AJiiinri 


PORTRAIT   OF    COUNT   BALTHAZAR    CASTIGLIOXE.       BY    RAPHAEL. 
ORIGIXALLY   FORMING    PART    OF    MAZARIX'S    COLLECTIOX. 
"  CALJIXET    I)U    ROY"    LOUIS    XIV, 
LOUVRE. 


Photo  Alinari 


DETAIL   FROM   LES    NOCES   DE   CANA. 
BY    PAUL    VERONESE. 
MUSEE   NAPOLEON,   LOUVRE. 


SAINT-MICHEL  AND   THE  DRAGON. 
liY   RAPHAEL. 

originally  forming  part  of 

mazarin's  collection. 

•'  cabinet  du  roy  "  louis  xiv, 

LOUVRE. 


J'ltolo   liraun   et   Cie. 


FOUXDATIOXS  OF  THE  MUSEUM     445 

came  to  the  Louvre  such  masterly  canvases  as 
the  portrait  of  himself  with  his  horse,  by  Van  Dyck ; 
the  Jupiter  and  Aiitiope,  the  Entombment,  the 
exquisite  Laura  de'  Dianti,  with  Al2}honse  de  Far- 
rare,  of  Titian;  the  Antioj)e  of  Correggio;  the  Fete 
ChampHre  and  Holy  Family,  of  Giorgione. 

From  Mazarin's  collection  came  Correggio's 
beautiful  Mystic  Marriage  of  Sainte-Catherine  of 
Alexandria;  Raphael's  portrait  of  the  Count  Bal- 
thazar Castiglione  and  the  two  tiny  pictures  of 
Saint-Michel  and  Saint-Georges  with  the  dragons. 

Lenoir's  contributions  to  the  museum  were 
mostly  sculpture  and  one  finds  the  rooms  devoted 
to  Renaissance  and  XVIIIth  century  monuments 
filled  with  the  treasures  which  his  intervention 
secured. 

Under  the  Directorate,  the  Consulate,  and  the 
First  Empire  the  Louvre  was  a  scene  of  great 
activity.  Each  armistice  and  treaty  of  peace  was 
followed  by  the  arrival  in  Paris  of  numerous 
precious  objects,  which,  hastily  installed  in  the 
Louvre,  became  the  ]\Iusee  Napoleon.  The  Act 
of  Restitution  of  1815  restored  most  of  this  val- 
uable loot  to  its  various  owners,  but  a  catalogue 
of  Napoleon's  museum  has  preserved  the  memory 
of  that  remarkable  assemblage.  Amongst  the 
more     noteworthv     souvenirs     of     the     affair     is 


446  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Veronese's  Marriage  of  Cana,  from  the  refectory 
of  the  Convent  of  the  Benedictines  of  San  Giorgio 
Maggiore,  of  Venice.  This  canvas,  despite  its 
enormous  proportions,  Napoleon  had  brought  to 
Paris,  in  1799.  In  1815  on  account  of  the  difficul- 
ties and  dangers  of  transport  the  Austrian  repre- 
sentative consented  to  leave  the  painting  at  the 
Louvre  and  to  take  in  its  place  a  large  canvas  of 
Le  Brun. 


CHAPTER  XX 
THE  MARAIS:  HENRI  IV 

In  the  days  when  the  Bastille  Saint- Antoine 
was  a  fort-bastide — built  on  the  line  of  the  city 
walls  just  to  the  south  of  the  Porte  Saint- Antoine, 
and  surrounded  by  its  own  moat,  the  ]Marais  was 
the  favoured  residence  of  the  nobility.  The 
fortress  commanded  the  river  and  its  approaches, 
and  furnished  protection  to  the  Hotel  Saint-Pol, 
to  which  Charles  V  removed  the  court  when  he 
came  to  the  throne. 

Whilst  Jean  le  Bon  was  a  prisoner  in  England, 
his  son,  the  dauphin,  afterwards  Charles  V,  was 
alarmed  by  the  growing  power  of  the  Confrerie 
des  Bourgeois,  the  municipal  authorities  of  Paris. 
The  climax  was  reached  when  their  formidable 
provost,  Etienne  Marcel,  at  the  head  of  two  or 
three  thousand  men,  wearing  the  colours  of  the 
revolt,  marched  to  the  Louvre,  broke  into  the 
apartments  of  the  dauphin,  and  in  the  presence  of 
the  prince  assassinated  Robert  de  Clermont,  mar- 
shal of  France,  and  Jean  de  Conflans,  marshal  of 
Champagne,    his    two    favourite    ministers.      The 

447 


448  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

dauphin,  himself,  escaped  inerelj'  hy  consenting  to 
wear  the  red  and  green  cap  of  the  repubhcan 
leader. 

The  prince  regent  at  first  took  flight,  but  re- 
turning to  Paris  after  Etienne  Marcel  had  been 
put  to  death  by  his  order,  determined  to  seek  a 
more  secure  residence  with  the  Association  de  la 
Marchandise  de  I'Eau,  which  had  always  been  de- 
voted to  the  king.  So,  forsaking  the  Palais  and 
the  Louvre,  Charles  now  bought,  near  the  Porte 
de  Saint-Pol,  the  hotel  of  the  comte  d'Etampes, 
adding  later  to  his  purchase  the  hotel  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Sens  with  its  gardens,  and  the 
smaller  hotels  d'Estomesnil  and  Pute-y-Muce  and 
the  estate  of  the  abbots  of  Saint-Maur.  When 
he  came  to  the  throne  Charles  V  declared  the 
Hotel  Saint-Pol  the  property  of  the  crown.  It 
was  a  group  of  palaces,  rather  than  a  single  build- 
ing, surrounded  by  high  walls,  which  enclosed 
meadows,  gardens,  galleries,  and  courts. 

Charles  VI,  the  son  and  successor  of  Charles  V, 
occupied  the  Hotel  Saint-Pol  during  the  greater 
part  of  his  life.  Its  gardens  were  shaded  by 
trellises,  covered  with  vines,  which  yielded  annually 
a  goodly  supply  of  vin  de  I'hotel.  After  Charles 
VI  became  insane  he  amused  himself  by  keeping 
a  menagerie  under  the  shade  of  the  trellises,  pay- 


I'hoto  A..  Giraudon 


JKANXE    DE    rjOURHOX.    WIFE    OE    CHARLES    V. 
FROM    THE    CONVENT    OF    THE   CELESTINS. 
^'OW    I.N    THE    LOUVRE. 


ISABEAU    DE   BAVIERE. 
DETAIL    FROM    HER   FUNERAL 
MONUMENT   AT   SAINT-DENIS. 
FROM  A  CAST  OF  THE  ORIGINAL. 
IN    THE    TROCADERO. 


Photo  A.  Giraudon 


Photo  A.  Oiraudon 


THE  THREE  THEOrOGICAL  VrRTlES  OR  THE  THREE  GRACES, 
JIADE    BY   (JERMAIX    PILOX    TO    HOLD   THE    HEARTS    OF 

HENRI   11   AM)  (  ATHERINE  DE  MED1CI8   IX  THE  i:GHSE 
OF   THE    CELESTIX^. 
NOW   IN    THE    lOrVRE 


THE  MARAIS:  HENRI  IV  451 

ing  fabulous  sums  for  rare  animals.  At  the 
Hotel  Saint-Pol  were  born  the  king's  twelve 
children,  by  Isabeau  de  Baviere;  and  here  in  later 
years,  abandoned  by  the  queen,  he  died,  attended 
only  by  his  mistress,  Odette  de  Champdivers,  la 
petite  reine,  who  was  faithful  to  him  to  the  end, 
while  the  queen  gave  herself  up  to  her  passion 
for  her  brother-in-law,  the  due  d'Orleans,  in  the 
Hotel  Barbette. 

After  the  murder  of  her  lover  and  the  death  of 
her  husband,  Isabeau  de  Baviere  passed  also  the 
last  miserable  vears  of  her  life  at  the  Hotel  Saint- 
Pol — the  Tournelles  had  become  the  residence  of 
the  reigning  monarch — shut  away  from  the  eyes 
of  a  populace  which  hated  her.  Brantome  de- 
scribes her  funeral:  she  was  carried  out  of  the 
hotel  and  conveyed  in  a  little  boat  on  the  Seine 
without  pomp  or  ceremony,  to  her  tomb  at  Saint- 
Denis,  "  as  though  she  had  been  a  simple  de- 
moiselle." 

At  the  angle  of  the  Rue  Vieille  du  Temple  and 
the  Rue  des  Francs-Bourgeois  stands  a  beautiful 
old  house  with  an  overhanging  tourelle,  orna- 
mented with  niches  and  pinnacles  in  the  Gothic 
style.  Under  the  general  restoration  remains 
something  of  the  original  Hotel  Barbette,  this 
petit  sejour  of  the  unfaithful  Queen  Isabeau,  in 


452  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

which  the  due  d'Orleans  dined  upon  the  fatal  night 
of  his  assassination. 

Etienne  Barbette,  master  of  the  mint  and  con- 
fidential friend  of  Philippe  le  Bel,  built  a  house 
here,  in  1298,  and  it  is  his  name  which  has  survived 
its  colourful  history.  But  here,  under  the  tenancy 
of  Isabeau  de  Baviere,  the  queen  and  her  lover 
decided  all  the  affairs  of  state,  for  the  duke  was 
at  this  time  the  only  rampart  of  fallen  monarchy 
and  the  logical  protector  of  the  future  king 
against  the  plots  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy.  We 
have  already  seen  how  the  Duke  of  Burgundy 
revenged  himself,  by  the  murder  of  his  cousin. 
The  scene  of  the  tragedy  was  a  few  steps  from 
the  Hotel  Barbette  in  the  Rue  des  Francs- 
Bourgeois. 

As  for  the  house  itself  it  again  became  interest- 
ing in  1521,  as  the  residence  of  the  old  comte  de 
Breze,  husband  of  the  famous  Diane  de  Poitiers. 
One  day  as  Diane  stood  at  a  window,  doubtless  a 
window  of  the  tourelle,  Fran9ois  I  riding  through 
the  street  caught  sight  of  her  and  at  once  fell  a 
victim  to  her  charms,  an  incident  that  launched  her 
upon  her  career.  We  are  told  repeatedly  that  she 
was  not  beautiful,  but  her  spell  over  both  Fran9ois 
and  his  son  was  not  less  potent. 

We  have  seen  at  Saint-Denis  the  tomb  which 


THE  MARAIS:  HENRI  IV  453 

Louis  XII  raised  to  the  memory  of  his  grand- 
parents, the  murdered  due  d'Orleans  and  his  wife, 
Valentine  de  Milan.  The  tomb  was  saved  from 
the  monumental  chapel  which  the  duke  built,  in 
1393,  in  gratitude  for  his  escape  from  the  famous 
fire  in  the  old  hotel  of  Blanche  de  Castille  during 
a  masquerade,  called  the  ballet  dcs  ardcfits. 

The  Chapelle  d'Orleans  formed  part  of  the  old 
convent  of  the  Celestins  which  had  occupied  the 
Quartier  Saint-Pol  since  1352,  when  the  monks  of 
this  order  were  established  there  under  the  patron- 
age of  the  dauphin,  Charles,  during  the  captivity 
of  his  father,  Jean  le  Bon,  in  I^ondon.  The 
Caserne  des  Celestins  marks  the  site  of  this  cele- 
brated convent,  and  the  Boulevard  Henri  IV,  when 
cut  through  in  recent  times,  swept  a  wide  path 
through  the  middle  of  the  estate,  destroying  many 
associations. 

After  the  dauphin  became  Charles  V  he  built 
the  Celestins  a  beautiful  church,  whose  portail 
bore  statues  of  himself  and  the  queen,  Jeanne  de 
Bourbon.  These  are  now  at  Saint-Denis.  The 
Celestins,  then,  became  the  special  foundation  of 
royalty,  liberally  endowed  and  protected  by 
Charles  V,  Charles  VI,  and  the  due  d'Orleans. 
The  church  was  paved  with  sepulchral  stones 
carved  with  the  effigies  of  the  benefactors  of  the 


454  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

convent,  garbed  in  the  habit  of  the  Celestins  in 
which  they  were  dressed  before  receiving  the  last 
sacrament.  The  choir  contained  the  tombs  of 
Jeanne  de  Bourbon  and  of  Leon  de  Lustigan, 
last  king  of  Armenia — both  now  at  Saint-Denis — 
and  of  Anne  de  Bourgogne,  Duchess  of  Bedford 
— now  at  the  Louvre. 

Annexed  to  the  church  was  a  chapel,  given  by 
the  confederation  of  the  ten  thousand  martyrs  in 
the  XVth  century,  wherein  were  buried  the  families 
of  Gesvres  and  Beaune  under  magnificent  monu- 
ments. Three  little  chapels,  communicating  with 
the  Chapelle  des  Gesvres,  belonged  to  the  Roche- 
forts,  the  Zamets,  and  to  Charles  de  INIaigne,  gen- 
tleman of  the  chamber  to  Henri  II,  with  a  beau- 
tiful statue  by  Paul  Ponce,  now  in  the  Louvre. 

The  more  magnificent  Chapelle  d'Orleans  rose 
attached  to  the  Celestins  and  contained  the  assem- 
blage of  sculptured  monuments  of  which  we  have 
already  spoken,  and  of  which  many  were  destroyed 
and  others  distributed  between  Saint-Denis  and 
the  Louvre. 

Naturally  so  regal  a  church  was  pillaged  during 
the  Revolution,  but  the  greater  sacrifice  was  made 
in  the  middle  of  the  last  century  when  the  whole 
of  the  chapel  was  razed  to  make  way  for  the 
Boulevard  Henri  IV. 


THE  MARAIS:  HENRI  IV  455 

Behind  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  between  the  river 
and  the  Rue  des  Francs-Bourgeois,  Paris  is  honey- 
combed with  ancient  streets,  filled  with  historic 
souvenirs  of  other  times.  The  Hotel  de  Ville 
itself,  a  modern  restoration  of  the  original,  which 
was  burned  in  the  Commune  of  1871,  sounds  a 
bit  too  loudly  the  note  of  the  quarter.  The  Place 
de  Greve,  with  its  hideous  historical  associations, 
preceded  the  modernized  Place  de  I'Hotel  de 
Ville.  Here,  in  1473,  was  Jean  Hardi  torn  to 
pieces  by  four  horses  on  the  accusation  of  liaving 
tried  to  poison  Louis  XI;  here  Nicolas  de  Salcede, 
sieur  d'Auvillers,  suffered  the  same  fantastic 
punishment,  in  the  presence  of  the  king  and  the 
queens  of  the  court,  for  having  conspired  against 
the  life  of  Catherine  de  Medicis'  youngest  son,  the 
due  d'Anjou.  Here,  on  May  27,  1610,  was 
Ravaillac  executed  for  the  murder  of  Henri  IV; 
and  in  1757  Damiens,  the  fanatic  who  tried  to  kill 
Louis  XV,  was  put  to  death  with  all  the  savagery 
of  an  ingenious  people.  These  are  but  a  few  of 
the  horrid  associations  of  this  place. 

Immediately  behind  the  Hotel  de  Ville  lies  the 
Church  of  Saint-Gervais,  brought  into  promi- 
nence by  the  bomb  dropped  upon  it  on  the  Good 
Friday  of  1918,  during  the  celebration  of  high 
mass.     Many  people  were  killed  and  the  interior 


456  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

of  the  church  was  badly  damaged.  Though  as  a 
parish  Saint-Gervais  dates  from  the  time  of 
Childebert,  the  present  edifice  shows  nothing 
earher  than  the  remains  of  a  Gothic  church 
erected  in  the  Xlllth  century  and  entirely  remod- 
elled in  the  XVIth  century.  De  Brosse,  Marie  de 
Medicis'  architect,  added  a  Greek  portico  in  1616. 
The  interior,  remarkable  for  its  height,  is  consid- 
ered a  fine  specimen  of  Gothic  architecture.  Most 
of  its  treasures  of  painting  have  been  carried  to 
the  Louvre  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  for  future 
generations  Saint-Gervais  will  stand  more  promi- 
nently as  the  martyr  church  of  Paris  than  for  its 
artistic  qualities. 

The  church  stands  at  the  parting  of  the  ways, 
both  leading  into  the  heart  of  the  old  Paris  of 
Charles  V  and  VI.  One  has  only  to  wander  at 
random  through  this  network  of  narrow  byways 
to  become  lost  in  the  Paris  of  the  XVth  century, 
of  which  there  remain  many  fragments,  as  well  as 
a  few  entire  houses,  crumbling  with  decay  or  de- 
based by  unworthy  occupation,  but  eloquent  of 
the  magnificence  of  their  time. 

The  Rue  de  I'Hotel  de  Ville,  which  runs  parallel 
to  the  quay  of  the  same  name,  has  preserved 
its  provincial  character.  Following  it  through  its 
file    of    dark    dwellings    from    which    exhale    the 


THE  MARAIS:  HENRI  IV  457 

odours  of  many  centuries  of  dampness,  the  street 
at  its  base  takes  a  short  curve  to  the  left  and 
comes  out,  at  its  junction  with  the  Rue  du  Figuier, 
into  a  small  place  before  an  ancient  house,  whose 
pointed  tower,  overhanging  the  street,  has  already 
intrigued  us.  This  is  the  Hotel  de  Sens,  once 
interwoven  with  the  group  of  dwellings  which 
made  the  royal  residence  of  Charles  VI. 

This  noble  house,  admirable  even  in  its  decay, 
remains,  with  the  Hotel  de  Cluny,  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  specimens  of  XVth  century  French 
architecture.  Happy  are  those  who  have  seen  it  in 
its  ruin,  for  restoration  is  in  the  air,  and  the  house, 
the  property  of  the  city  since  1911,  is  destined  to 
become  a  museum  of  relics  of  Jeanne  d'Arc. 

The  original  house  served  as  a  Paris  residence 
for  the  archbishops  of  Sens,  from  which  mediaeval 
city  Paris,  as  a  simple  bishopric,  depended  until 
1622.  Its  importance  therefore  was  considerable 
when  Jean  le  Bon,  returning  from  his  captivity 
in  England,  resided  here  for  a  time  as  guest  of 
the  archbishop.  Charles  V  bought  the  house  from 
Guillaume  de  Melun  and  it  became  the  chief  of 
the  buildings  which  constituted  the  Hotel  Saint- 
Pol.  When  the  latter  was  abandoned  for  the 
Tournelles,  under  Charles  VII,  the  estate  which 
had  belonged  to  the  archbishops  was  restored  to 


458  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

them.  The  present  building  goes  back  to  Tristan 
de  Sahizar,  archbishop  of  Sens,  who  erected  it 
from  1474  to  1519,  and  is  about  contemporary 
with  the  Hotel  de  Cluny,  the  only  other  specimen 
in  Paris  of  the  domestic  architecture  of  this  date. 

This  old  hotel  has  known  all  the  grandeurs,  the 
vicissitudes,  the  decadence  of  the  quarter  itself. 
Inhabited  by  the  clergy — archbishops,  bishops,  car- 
dinals— by  royalty,  there  is  also  a  tradition  that 
it  offered  its  hospitality  to  Jeanne  d'Arc  when  she 
entered  Paris  victorious.  Under  Henri  IV  it  was 
for  a  short  time  famous  as  the  residence  of  his 
divorced  wife,  Marguerite  de  Valois — la  reine 
Margot — who  brought  scandal  to  its  threshold,  for 
one  day  returning  from  mass  at  the  Celestins,  her 
page  and  favourite,  Julien,  was  shot  dead  at  the 
door  of  her  carriage,  by  her  jealous  former  lover, 
Vermond.  The  queen  swore  that  she  would 
neither  eat  nor  drink  until  his  death  was  avenged, 
and  she  had  the  assassin  beheaded  in  her  presence 
two  days  later  in  the  place  before  the  hotel.  It 
was  in  this  house  that  the  former  queen  slept  in  a 
bed  with  black  satin  sheets  to  show  off  the  white- 
ness of  her  skin. 

After  Paris  was  accorded  an  archbishop  the 
Hotel  de  Sens  was  deserted  by  its  owners,  who, 
however,  were  not  dispossessed  until  the  Revolu- 


Photi)   X 


HoTFJ.   nE   SEXS,    XVTTI   CKXTURY. 


THE  MARAIS:  HENRI  IV  4G1 

tionists  took  possession  of  the  property.  Its  de- 
cline was  then  rapid.  For  a  time  it  served  as  a 
diligence  office,  and  under  the  Directoire  the  fa- 
mous "  Courrier  de  Lyon  "  is  said  to  have  started 
from  its  court.  Planted  in  the  facade  is  a  ball 
from  the  revolution  of  1830.  Little  by  little 
speculators  robbed  it  of  its  garden,  its  chapel,  and 
in  1891  the  house  was  despoiled  of  its  chimney- 
pieces  and  carved  woodwork,  sold  to  collectors; 
but  the  square  dungeon  with  its  tower  at  the  back 
of  the  court  and  the  winding  stair  of  the  tourelle 
remain  intact. 

The  Hotel  Saint-Pol  yielded  as  royal  residence 
to  the  Tournelles,  which  came  to  the  crown  during 
the  reign  of  Charles  VI.  It  was  a  palace  of  in- 
numerable turrets,  first  built  by  Pierre  d'Orge- 
mont,  chancellor  of  France,  in  1380.  His  son, 
bishop  of  Paris,  sold  it  to  the  due  de  Berry,  uncle 
of  Charles  VI,  from  whom  it  passed  to  his  nej^hew 
the  due  d'Orleans,  and  from  him  to  the  king. 
The  duke  of  Bedford,  regent  of  France  after  the 
death  of  Henry  V,  lived  at  the  Tournelles. 
Charles  VII  was  the  first  monarch  to  adopt 
the  Tournelles  as  a  residence  and  after  him  it  was 
occupied  on  occasions  by  Louis  XI,  Charles  VIII, 
Louis  XII,  and  Francois  I.  Henri  II  found  the 
palace   mesquin,   insalubre,   and   nauseabond   and 


462  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

made  only  short  stops  there  during  tournaments 
held  in  the  park  which  surrounded  the  chateau,  on 
the  site  of  the  present  Place  des  Vosges.  The  Rue 
du  Pare  Royal  marks  one  of  the  boundaries  of 
this  park. 

It  was  in  such  a  tournament,  held  in  honour  of 
the  marriage  of  Elisabeth  of  France  with  Philip  II 
of  Spain,  that  Henri  II,  tilting  with  the  Earl 
of  Montgomery,  was  fatally  wounded.  The  king 
was  hastily  carried  to  the  Tournelles,  where  he 
expired  ten  days  later,  and  Catherine  de  Medicis 
conceiving  a  superstitious  horror  of  the  place  ob- 
tamed  from  her  son,  Charles  IX,  authority  to 
throw  it  down.  The  Rue  des  Tournelles  occupies 
the  line  of  the  fa9ade  of  the  palace,  the  Place  des 
Vosges  marks  the  site  of  the  royal  garden. 

The  Place  des  Vosges,  in  its  present  form,  dates 
from  Henri  IV,  who  determined  to  make  the 
Marais  the  handsomest  quarter  of  Paris  and  the 
Place  Royale  (Place  des  Vosges)  the  brilliant 
centre  from  which  wide  streets  radiating  in  all 
directions  should  bear  the  names  of  all  the  prov- 
inces of  France — the  Rues  Saintonge,  de  Beam, 
de  Bretagne  are  survivals  of  the  original  intention. 
The  plans  adopted  for  the  place  were  designed  by 
the  king's  favourite  architect,  Jacques-Androuet 
du  Cerceau  and  the  king  built  the  side  towards 


THE  MARAIS:  HENRI  IV  463 

the  Rue  Saint-Antoine  at  his  own  expense  and  then 
ceded  plots  of  ground  on  the  other  sides  of  the 
square  to  his  courtiers,  on  condition  that  thej^ 
erect  houses  at  once  according  to  the  accepted 
plan,  in  order  that  the  whole  enclosure  should  be 
uniform.  Thirty-six  pavilions  surrounded  the 
square. 

Four  new  streets  were  opened  leading  to  the 
jjlace  and  the  king  erected  the  two  central  pa- 
vilions on  the  south  and  north,  which  were  called 
the  Pavilion  du  Roi  and  the  Pavilion  de  la  Reine. 
The  king  came  daily  while  in  Paris  to  direct  and 
speed-up  the  work  and  during  his  absences  at 
Fontainebleau  he  wTote  constantly  to  Sully  beg- 
ging him  to  do  the  same.  "  Je  vous  recommande 
la  Place  Rojfale "  was  his  admonition,  added  to 
letters  to  his  minister  on  other  subjects. 

Henri  meant  to  live  in  the  Pavilion  du  Roi,  but 
the  square  was  unfinished  at  the  time  of  his  death 
and  it  was  not  until  the  commencement  of  the 
reign  of  Louis  XIII  that  the  Place  Royale  was 
inaugurated.  The  occasion  was  made  brilliant  as 
part  of  the  festivities  attending  the  marriage  of 
the  young  king's  sister,  Elisabeth,  with  the  Infant 
of  Spain.  This  fete  established  the  favour  of  the 
place  with  the  aristocracy  and  it  remained  a 
centre  of  fashion  until  the  commercial  world  in- 


464  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

vaded  it  at  the  end  of  the  XVI Ith  century. 
Though  under  Louis  XIII  duelling  was  for- 
bidden, the  Place  Royale  was  a  favourite  ren- 
dezvous for  duellists,  and  the  balconies  and 
windows  of  the  square  used  to  be  filled  with 
spectators,  which  gave  such  affairs  almost  the  pub- 
licity of  gladiatorial  combats. 

As  a  warning  to  duellists  Richelieu  raised  in  the 
centre  of  the  square  an  equestrian  statue  of  the 
king.  It  was  destroyed  by  the  Revolutionists, 
who  melted  the  bronze  into  cannons,  and  the  pres- 
ent statue,  by  Dupaty  and  Cortot,  was  erected  in 
1825.  It  presides  over  desolation,  solitude, 
abandon. 

The  setting  is  intact — strangely  unchanged  and 
more  perfect  in  its  preservation  than  its  contem- 
porary, the  Place  Dauphine,  of  which  we  have 
spoken.  But  every  vestige  of  former  splendour  has 
vanished.  Where  once  was  all  gaiety,  life,  anima- 
tion ;  where  sedan  chairs  and  carriages  deposited  the 
beauties  of  the  court  of  a  gallant  monarch,  where 
elegant  cavaliers  pirouetted  under  the  eyes  of  their 
divinities,  where  nobles  fought  and  played,  where 
was  the  rendezvous  of  fashion,  where  court  and  pub- 
lic found  their  choicest  distractions  and  pleasures, 
is  now  a  vast  emptiness  pervaded  by  a  touching 
melancholy.     We   seem   far   from   Paris   in   this 


Photo  Moreau  Frires 


PLACE   DES    VOSGES:      STATUE    OF    LOUIS    XIII. 


Photo  A.  Giraudon 


I'LACE    DES    VOSGES:      THE   ARCADE. 


Photo  Monuments  Historiques 
HOTEL  SULI.Y.      DETAIL  FROH  PRINCIPAL  FACADE  OF  THE  COURT. 


THE  MARAIS:  HENRI  IV  467 

complete  picture  of  a  dead  past,  this  empty 
theatre  of  departed  glories.  In  the  poetic  beauty 
of  its  decline  the  Place  des  Vosges  is  like  some 
exquisite  discarded  mistress.  It  has  something  of 
the  tragedy  of  old  Edinburgh. 

The  vogue  of  the  Place  Royale  persisted  under 
Louis  XIV;  then  the  heau  monde  emigrated  to 
the  vicinity  of  the  Tuileries,  or  the  Palais  Royal, 
while  many  of  the  aristocracy  had  already  crossed 
the  river  to  the  faubourg  Saint-Germain.  The 
cannons  of  the  Bastille  drove  out  the  remaining 
faithful — shops  were  shut  up  and  homes  aban- 
doned. The  Place  Royale  became  the  "  Place  de 
ITndivisibilite "  and  an  armory  was  installed. 
The  present  name  is  in  honour  of  the  first  depart- 
ment of  France  to  forward  patriot-contributions 
to  Paris. 

The  disposition  of  the  ijJace  is  fine.  Tlie  brick 
houses  with  their  wide,  white  markings  in  stone, 
their  picturesque,  high-pitched,  slate  roofs,  de- 
scribe a  large  square  upon  which  open  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-four  arcades;  long  galleries  are 
reserved  to  promenaders;  and  four  wide  roads  to 
horsemen  and  carriages.  In  the  centre  the  garden 
was  formerly  enclosed  by  a  handsome  grill  dating 
from  Louis  XIV.  This  grill,  torn  out  for  no  ap- 
parent reason,  is  replaced  by  an  inferior  railing, 


468  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

but  a  fragment  of  it  encloses  the  magnificent 
hotel  of  cardinal  Mazarin  in  the  Rue  Vivienne. 
(Now  j^art  of  the  Bihliotheque  Nationale.) 

INIadame  de  Sevigne  was  born  in  No.  1  Place 
Royale;  Richelieu  lived  in  No.  21.  Under  Louis- 
Philippe  artists  and  men  of  letters  replaced  the 
grands  seigneurs.  Rachel,  the  tragedienne,  died  in 
No.  13;  and,  in  1832,  Victor  Hugo  occupied  an 
apartment  in  No.  6,  the  former  dwelling  of 
Marion  Delorme,  which  has  now  become  a  na- 
tional museum  of  the  effects  of  the  poet. 

Reentering  the  Marais  by  the  picturesque  Rue 
Fran9ois  INIiron,  on  the  left  hand  of  Saint-Gervais, 
we  find  again  some  ancient  dwellings.  The  Hotel 
de  Beauvais  (No.  62)  is  readily  distinguishable 
for  its  agreeable  fa(;ade  with  balconies  and  its 
imposing  entrance  leading  into  a  fine  court.  The 
house  was  built  about  the  middle  of  the  XVIIth 
century  for  Pierre  de  Beauvais,  whose  wife,  Cath- 
erine Bellier,  was  first  lady  in  waiting  to  Anne  of 
Austria.  In  the  decorations  of  the  court  the 
heads  of  rams  {helier)  which  alternate  with  those 
of  lions  are  in  allusion  to  the  mistress  of  the  house. 
The  queen  so  favoured  her  that  it  used  to  be  said 
that  her  house  was  built  with  stones  from  the 
Louvre.  There  is  a  rich  vestibule  with  Doric 
columns  sustaining  trophies;   an  oval   court  with 


THE  MARAIS:  HENRI  IV  469 

pilasters  and  masks;  a  stairway  with  Corinthian 
columns,  reliefs,  and  a  rich  balustrade  leading  to 
the  chief  rooms  on  the  first  floor.  From  one  of 
these  rooms,  on  August  26,  1660,  Anne  of  Austria 
and  Henrietta  Maria,  of  England,  watched  the 
triumj^hal  entry  of  Louis  XIV  and  Marie- 
Therese  into  the  capital. 

The  Rue  Fran9ois  Miron  was  formerly  part  of 
the  Rue  Saint-Antoine,  into  which  it  leads,  at  the 
widening  of  the  thoroughfare  where  the  modern 
Rue  de  Rivoli  starts.  We  are  now  in  the  heart  of 
the  JNIarais  and  seem  far  from  Paris.  Two 
churches,  dating  from  Louis  XIII,  give  the  note 
of  antiquity  and  rise  above  the  general  squalour 
into  which  the  neighbourhood  has  fallen.  That 
nearest  the  Rue  Francois  Miron  is  the  Church  of 
Saint  Paul  and  Saint  Louis,  built  for  Louis  XIII, 
in  1627-41,  by  Francois  Derand,  upon  the  site 
of  a  Jesuit  church,  built  in  1580,  in  which 
Ravaillac,  according  to  his  own  testimony,  was 
instructed  by  the  Jesuit  d'Aubigne  to  murder 
Llenri  IV.  The  site  of  the  church  was  first  occu- 
pied by  the  hotel  of  the  cardinal  de  Bourbon. 

The  present  church  imitates  the  Italian  style 
of  the  XVIth  centurv;  it  is  cruciform  and  its  hand- 
some  dome  is  one  of  the  earliest  erected  in  Paris. 
Richelieu  added  the  portal,  from  designs  by  the 


470  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Jesuit,  Marcel  Ange,  and  he  celebrated  the  first 
mass.  Louis  XIII  made  a  liberal  endowment 
and  the  church,  before  its  treasures  were  despoiled 
and  dispersed  by  the  Revolution,  contained  many 
interesting  monuments.  The  sculptor,  Sarazin, 
who  carried  on  the  traditions  of  Germain  Pilon, 
made  for  it  the  statues  of  the  grand  Conde  and 
his  father,  Henri  de  Bourbon;  while  Pilon's 
statue  of  the  cruel  chancellor,  Rene  de  Birague, 
(now  in  the  Louvre)  was  one  of  the  more  famous 
monuments.  Sarazin  made  for  the  church  a 
golden  urn,  supported  by  silver  angels,  to  contain 
the  heart  of  Louis  XIII,  and  the  heart  of  Louis 
XIV  was  brought  here,  in  1715,  enclosed  in  a  case 
designed  by  Coustou  Jeune.  The  pulpit  was 
given  by  Gaston  de  France,  brother  of  the  king. 

The  church  still  retains  a  few  of  its  treasures, 
amongst  which  the  most  famous  is  the  Christ  in 
the  Garden  of  Olives  by  Eugene  Delacroix.  There 
is  a  Madonna  in  marble  by  Germain  Pilon,  a 
replica  of  the  terra-cotta  from  the  Sainte-Chapelle, 
now  in  the  Louvre.  The  crucifix  in  the  sacristy 
comes  from  the  old  chapel  of  the  Bastille  and  the 
shells  which  serve  as  vessels  for  the  holy  water 
were  given  by  Victor  Hugo  when  his  first  child 
was  baptised. 

The    Temple    Sainte-Marie,    which    carries    the 


THE  MARAIS:  HENRI  IV  471 

picturesqueness  of  the  street  well  down  towards 
the  Place  de  la  Bastille,  was  built  as  the  Church 
of  the  Visitation,  by  Francois  Mansart,  in  1632. 
In  the  convent  of  the  Visitandines  Louise  de  la 
Fayette,  the  virtuous  and  beautiful  friend  of 
Louis  XIII,  preferring  a  life  of  seclusion  to  the 
scandals  and  temptations  of  the  court,  took  the 
veil  in  1637,  to  escape  from  the  insults  of 
Richelieu  and  the  queen,  who  feared  her  influence. 
She  became  superior  of  the  convent  under  the 
name  Mere  Angelique.  Louis  saw  her  there  and 
held  a  long  conversation  with  her  through  the 
grill  of  the  parloir,  and  it  was  during  this  con- 
versation that  she  persuaded  him  to  consecrate 
the  kingdom  to  the  Virgin.  We  have  seen,  in  the 
choir  of  Xotre-Dame,  the  statue  of  Louis  XIII 
off^ering  his  crown  and  sceptre  to  the  Virgin,  and 
we  know  that  his  son,  Louis  XIV,  executed  the 
vow  which  his  father  died  too  soon  to  accomplish. 
Upon  the  site  of  this  church  stood  formerly  the 
Hotel  de  Boissy,  in  which  died  Quelus,  the  favour- 
ite of  Henri  III,  who  had  been  mortally  wounded 
in  the  great  duel  of  April  27,  1578.  For  thirty- 
three  days  Henri  watched  at  the  bedside  of  his 
dying  "  mignon,"  offering  one  hundred  thousand 
francs  to  the  surgeon  who  could  save  the  life  of 
one   to   whom   he   bore   uiie   merveilleuse   amitie. 


472  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Quelus  died  calling  upon  the  king  and  it  was 
Henri  himself  who  cut  his  long  chestnut  locks 
and  took  from  his  ears  the  earrings  he  had  given 
him. 

Close  by  the  Church  of  the  Visitation  is  the 
Hotel  de  Mavenne,  or  d'Ormesson,  or  du  Petit- 
Muse,  a  handsome  house  built  by  Du  Cerceau  for 
the  due  de  Mavenne. 

But  of  all  the  ancient  hotels  which  still  remain 
of  those  which  clustered  around  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  Place  Royale  the  most  interesting  is 
that  built  by  Sully,  the  minister  who  superin- 
tended its  erection.  Du  Cerceau  was  again  the 
architect,  building  upon  part  of  the  site  of  the 
old  Tournelles  this  handsome  residence  for  Maxi- 
milian de  Bethune,  due  de  Sully,  who  had  made 
a  fortune  in  the  service  of  Henri  IV. 

The  rich  fa9ade  of  the  hotel  still  looks  down 
upon  the  rue  Saint-Antoine,  the  lower  2:)art  de- 
stroyed by  commercial  disfigurement,  but  the 
upper  stories  still  full  of  character.  There  are  two 
massive  corner  pavilions  with  the  high-pitched 
Renaissance  roof,  connected  by  a  simpler  face  of 
which  the  upper  part  is  obviously  modern,  but 
under  which  is  the  original  imposing  entrance  to 
the  statel}^  court.  This  court  is  richly  sculptured 
with  reliefs  of  the  four   Seasons,  in  the   Goujon 


THE  MARAIS:  HENRI  IV  473 

style,  with  armour,  with  masques  and  foliage 
above  the  windows.  Two  sphynxes  guard  the  stone 
steps  which  lead  into  the  central  building  at  the 
back  and  the  whole  court  is  opulent  in  carved 
stonework  of  the  period.  Inside  a  noble  salon 
shows  the  proportions  of  the  apartments  and  here 
and  there  a  trace  of  the  monogram  of  Sullv. 
Another  room  preserves  its  ancient  mosaic  pave- 
ment. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
CARNAVALET 

Directly  before  the  Church  of  Saint  Paul  and 
Saint  Louis  the  Rue  de  Sevigne  leads  through  to 
the  Rue  des  Francs-Bourgeois  where  at  the  angle 
of  the  two  streets  stands  the  chief  treasure  of  the 
Marais,  the  famous  house  of  Madame  de  Sevigne, 
the  Hotel  Carnavalet.  The  perfection  of  the  type 
of  private  dwellings,  of  which  the  Hotel  de  Sully 
is  a  later  and  more  ostentatious  development,  the 
Hotel  Carnavalet,  having  been  taken  early  by  the 
city  for  the  installation  of  its  municipal  museum, 
has  escaped  all  the  misfortunes  of  degenerating 
private  occupation  and  ownership.  Lodged  in  its 
own  chief  exhibit,  the  museum  is  one  of  the  most 
thrilling  which  Paris  offers.  It  deals  with  the 
history  of  the  city,  especially  in  the  parts  which 
the  average  visitor  knows  best — the  Revolution 
and  Napoleon.  It  has  all  the  charm  of  the  sou- 
venir of  that  delightful  letter  writer,  its  most  fa- 
mous occupant. 

The  fame  of  Carnavalet  covers  many  genera- 
tions.    The  original  part  of  the  hotel,  which  had 

474 


CARAAVALET  475 

been  largely  added  to  accommodate  the  growing 
collections  without  disturbing  the  effect  of  the 
authentic  portion,  is  contemporary  with  the  fa- 
mous fa9ade  of  the  court  of  the  Louvre,  upon 
which  we  have  dwelt  at  such  length,  and  it  also 
presents  the  work  of  the  same  architect  and 
sculptor.  Begun  by  Pierre  Lescot  and  Jean 
Goujon,  in  1544,  it  was  completed  when  two  years 
later  these  two  were  called  to  the  Louvre,  by  Jean 
Bullant  assisted  by  several  students  of  Goujon, 
who  did  not  want  to  abandon  entirely  its  sculp- 
tures. 

The  house  has  had  many  occupants.  It  was 
built  for  Jacques  des  Ligneris,  president  of  the 
parliament  of  Paris  and  representative  of  France 
in  the  Council  of  Trente.  The  next  important 
owner  was  the  widow  of  Fran9ois  de  Kernevenoy, 
a  grand  seigneur  of  Brittany,  first  equerry  to 
Henri  II  and  preceptor  of  the  due  d'Anjou,  later 
Henri  HI.  At  the  court  the  rude  Brittany 
"  Kernevenoy  "  became  "  Carnavalet,"  the  name 
which  above  all  others  has  survived  as  the  title  of 
the  property. 

The  original  house,  as  one  can  readily  see, 
consisted  of  a  square  of  buildings  surrounding  a 
small  open  court.  At  the  time  of  its  first  owners 
it   comprised   a   main   structure   whose   handsome 


476  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

facade  with  reliefs,  if  not  by  Goujon  himself,  at 
least  of  his  school,  faces  us  as  we  stand  at  the 
grill  under  the  archway  of  the  entrance.  The 
wings  were  of  one  story  only  and  the  court  was 
closed  across  the  front  by  a  fa9ade  of  which  the 
feature  was  a  sort  of  triumphal  arch,  embellished 
with  sculptures  by  Goujon. 

Madame  Carnavalet  died  at  a  great  age,  in 
1608,  and  her  successor,  Florent  d'Argouges, 
treasurer  of  Marie  de  JNIedicis,  made  the  first 
changes  in  the  house,  building  as  it  is  thought  the 
upper  stories  of  the  wings.  In  1654  under  another 
occupant  Francois  Mansart  entirely  transformed 
the  hotel,  respecting,  however,  in  the  main,  the 
work  of  Lescot  and  Goujon. 

Standing  in  the  old  court  of  the  hotel,  the  main 
facade  is  decorated  by  four  large  reliefs  of  the 
Seasons,  each  accompanied  by  its  appropriate 
sign  of  the  zodiac — Spring  with  the  ram.  Summer 
with  the  crab.  Autumn  with  the  scales,  and  Winter 
with  the  goat.  Except  for  the  Ceres,  which  is 
much  the  most  lovely,  these  reliefs  are  too  evi- 
dently inferior  to  the  nymphs  of  the  Fountain  of 
the  Innocents  to  be  from  the  same  chisel,  and 
three  of  them  were  probably  executed  by  another 
hand,  from  Goujon's  design.  Of  the  sides  or 
wings  of  the  court,  the  lower  floor  only  dates  from 


Phnfn  Ti.  Pnmard 


OAENavalet:    court  of  honour. 


Photo  L.  Pamard 


CARNAVALET :  STATUE  OF  LOUIS  XIV.   BY  COYZEVOX. 
FORMERLY  AT  THE  HOTEL  DE  VILLE. 


LION  BY  JEAN  GOU.TOX. 
FROM  THE  FACADE  OF  THE 
HOTEL  CARNAVALET. 


,™^- ULW. .  yjLi 


^W^aM 


I'liiito     1     iiumiiliiu 


CARNAVALET  479 

the  Renaissance  and  the  handsome  heads  or  masks, 
fauns  and  satyrs,  of  the  keystones  of  the  arches 
are  attributed  to  Paul  Ponce. 

For  the  decoration  of  the  new  fa9ades  ^lansart 
employed  two  sculptors  of  unequal  talent.  The 
more  than  mediocre  reliefs  of  the  ujjper  storey  of 
the  right  wing,  representing  Juno,  Hebe,  Diana, 
and  Flora,  with  their  attributes,  are  by  an  unknown 
sculptor.  The  reliefs  on  the  opposite  side,  repre- 
senting the  four  elements — Earth,  Water,  Air,  and 
Fire — surmounted  by  their  attributes,  are  thought 
to  be  the  work  of  Gerard  van  Obstal,  a  Flemish 
sculptor  brought  to  Paris  by  cardinal  Richelieu 
to  work  upon  the  Louvre. 

Above  the  entrance  door  to  the  main  stairway 
are  beautiful  reliefs  of  Jean  Goujon  representing 
two  geniuses  reclining  and  holding  lighted  torches, 
symbolical  of  the  vigilance  of  Justice  even  when 
she  seems  to  repose.  Upon  the  arch  of  the  porte- 
cochere  are  admirable  figures  of  Jean  Goujon  in 
his  best  manner.  The  figure  of  the  keystone, 
Authority  standing  upon  a  globe,  is  supported  by 
two  figures  of  Fame  lying  on  the  extrados  of  the 
&rch,  holding  palms  and  laurels.  The  two  sub- 
missive lions  which  now  form  part  of  the  decora- 
tion of  the  street  facade  were  originally  placed 
over   the   two  little   side  doors   of  the   court  and 


480  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

completed  the  symbolism  of  this  ensemble,  which 
recalls  that  this  hotel  was  built  for  a  president 
of  parliament. 

In  the  centre  of  the  com-t  is  the  bronze  statue 
of  Louis  XIV,  by  Antoine  Coyzevox,  formerly 
at  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  The  king  is  represented 
standing,  wearing  the  Roman  costume  of  a  war- 
rior. On  the  pedestal  are  two  reliefs  by  the  same 
sculptor;  to  the  right  France  annihilating  heresy, 
a  souvenir  of  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of 
Nantes;  to  the  left  Royal  jNIunificence  distributing 
food  to  the  starving  poor,  in  souvenir  of  the  or- 
ganized charity  after  the  terrible  famine  of  1662. 

This  statue  was  erected  in  the  court  of  the 
Hotel  de  Ville  on  July  14,  1689,  a  century  to  the 
day  before  the  storming  of  the  Bastille.  It  com- 
memorated  the  reconciliation  of  Louis  XIV  with 
the  city  of  Paris,  after  the  troubles  of  the  Fronde, 
which  the  king  was  long  in  pardoning,  and  since 
which  he  had  never  been  willing  to  appear  at  the 
Hotel  de  Ville.  Finally,  on  January  30,  1687, 
he  accepted  an  invitation  to  be  present  there  at  a 
festin  given  in  his  honour.  Upon  entering  the 
court  he  saw  the  marble  statue  of  Gilles  Guerin, 
erected  in  1654,  which  represented  the  king  as  a 
Roman  trampling  under  foot  the  rebel  Parisian. 
"  Take  away  that  figure,"  said  Louis,  "  it  is  no 


CARNAVALET  481 

longer  in  season."  The  same  night  it  was  re- 
moved and  now  decorates  the  interior  court  of  the 
chateau  of  Chantilly. 

In  memory  of  this  solemn  banquet  Coyzevox 
was  asked  to  make  the  statue  erected  two  years 
after.  Somehow  it  escaped  the  Revolutionary 
storm  and  before  1871  was  again  in  the  court  of 
the  Hotel  de  Ville  and  in  1890  was  transported 
to  its  present  place  at  Carnavalet. 

The  fa9ade  of  the  building  on  the  Rue  de 
Sevigne  dates  from  the  Mansart  constructions  in 
the  XVI Ith  century,  but  preserves  the  sculptures 
of  the  original  entrance,  attributed  to  Jean  Goujon 
and  Germain  Pilon.  To  the  right  and  left  of  the 
door  are  the  two  square  reliefs,  first  placed  inside 
the  court,  of  the  subdued  lions  against  a  back- 
ground of  war  trophies.  These  reliefs  are  by 
Goujon,  and  are  thought  to  have  been  inspired 
by  a  famous  morceau  in  the  Grand'  Salle  of  the 
Palais.  "  On  the  door  of  the  Chainhre  Doree, 
where  parliament  sat,"  says  Corrozet,  "  there  was 
a  large,  gilded  lion,  having  the  head  lowered  to 
the  ground  and  the  tail  between  his  legs,  signify- 
ing that  every  person,  of  whatever  rank  in  the 
realm,  should  obey  and  humble  himself  under  the 
laws  and  judgment  of  the  court."  The  lion  of 
the  Palais  gave  the  sculptor  the  motif  for  those 


482  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

which  he  carved  for  the  hotel  of  Ligneris,  the 
president  of  parliament. 

Opening  upon  the  garden  of  the  museum,  in  the 
Rue  des  Francs-Bourgeois,  is  an  arch,  called  the 
Arc  de  Nazareth,  which  once  traversed  a  street 
of  that  name  in  the  Cite,  near  the  Palais  de  Jus- 
tice, and  established  a  means  of  communication 
between  the  old  Chambre  des  Comptes  and  its 
archives.  When  the  Palais  de  Justice  was  ex- 
tended this  street  was  suppressed  and  its  arch 
taken  down  and  transported  stone  for  stone  to 
Carnavalet. 

The  fragment  undoubtedly  dates  from  the  time 
of  Henri  II  for  we  see  upon  the  eight  consoles  sup- 
porting the  arch  and  its  archivolts,  the  monogram 
and  device  of  this  king  several  times  repeated 
amongst  the  heads  of  satyrs  and  women.  The 
excellence  of  its  style  and  the  vigour  of  its  sculp- 
ture also  would  indicate  that  Goujon,  if  not 
Lescot,  worked  upon  it,  or  that  it  is  at  least  of 
their  epoch.  The  grill  which  closes  the  arch  is 
part  of  the  restoration. 

We  find  the  same  device  and  monogram,  com- 
monly accepted  as  a  direct  and  official  allusion  to 
the  amours  of  Henri  II  and  Diane  de  Poitiers, 
on  the  Louvre,  at  Fontainebleau,  in  the  chapel  of 
the  chateau  at  Vincennes,  in  the  church  of  Gous- 


CARNAVALET  483 

sainville,  etc.,  surmounted  by  the  royal  crown. 
We  know  that  Catherine  de  ]\Iedicis  was  forced 
to  accept  the  presence  of  her  powerful  rival  even 
in  the  menage  and  so  with  that  indomitable  will 
which  enabled  her  to  endure  humiliation  without 
appearing  to  accept  it,  she  did  her  utmost  to  live 
down  the  scandal  by  accepting  the  device  of  the 
monogram  and  the  crescent  as  her  own.  After 
the  death  of  Henri  II,  Catherine  continued  piously 
to  use  the  symbol,  marking,  however,  distinctly  the 
ends  of  the  crescent  to  form  the  letter  C,  as  we 
see  it  engraved  on  the  tombs  at  Saint-Denis  and 
on  the  astronomical  column,  which  she  had  built 
during  her  M-idowhood  and  which  still  stands 
against  the  old  Halle  au  Ble  (now  the  Bourse 
du  Conmierce). 

We  have  been  able  tq  touch  but  lightly  upon 
the  treasures  of  the  ]\Iarais,  than  which  no  quarter 
in  Paris  is  more  rich  in  historic  relics.  Carnavalet 
is  in  many  respects  its  chief  jewel  as  it  is  the  last 
monument  of  civil  architecture  of  the  Renaissance 
which  modern  Paris  offers  to  the  admiration  of 
artists.  Of  its  many  occupants  it  is  Madame  de 
Sevigne  who  has  left  the  most  potent  souvenir 
of  her  passage.  She  adored  Carnavalet  and  lived 
there  nearlv  nineteen  years,  from  1677  to  1696, 
up  to  within  a  short  time  of  her  death.     She  did 


484  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

not,  however,  die  in  the  house,  but  at  the  Chateau 
de  Grignan. 

The  property  was  seized  by  the  state  under  the 
Revolution  and  in  1866  Paris  bought  it  for  its 
historieal  museum.  At  this  time  the  name  of 
the  street  which  passes  before  the  house  was 
changed  from  the  Rue  Culture  Sainte-Catherine  to 
Rue  Sevigne,  which  adds  nothing  to  the  glory  of 
the  letter  writer,  but  by  which  Paris  loses  the  last 
trace  of  an  old  monastery  which  existed  here  be- 
fore the  Xlllth  century. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THE  LUXEMBOURG:  MARIE  DE 
MEDICTS 

The  Palace  of  the  Luxembourg,  whose  majestic 
facade  forms  the  imposing  vista  of  the  broad  Rue 
de  Tournon,  is  the  ancient  residence  of  Marie  de 
JNIedicis,  the  powerful  widow  of  Henri  IV,  the 
first  monarch  of  the  House  of  Bourbon. 

When  Marie  decided  to  build  a  palace  without 
the  walls  of  Philippe  Auguste,  ujion  a  slope  of  the 
plateau  of  Sainte-Genevieve,  she  followed  the 
example  which  half  a  century  before  her  com- 
patriot and  relative,  Catherine  de  jNIedicis,  had  set 
when  she  replaced  her  old  residence,  the  Tour- 
nelles,  by  the  new  palace  of  the  Tuileries,  situated 
outside  the  fortified  walls  of  Charles  V. 

The  buildings  of  the  Tuileries  though  not  yet 
finished  promised  a  sumptuous  dwelling  when 
]VIarie  de  INIedicis  became  regent,  but  the  haughty 
widow  of  Henri  IV,  though  she  found  herself  in- 
conveniently lodged  in  the  Louvre,  felt  no  interest 
in  terminating  the  work  on  the  Tuileries,  and 
would  not,  in  fine,  occupy  a  palace  commenced  by 

483 


486  A  LOITERER  IX  PARIS 

another.  The  royal  habitation  which  she  visualized 
must  be  her  very  own. 

Daughter  of  a  grand-duke  of  Tuscany  and  of 
an  archduchess  of  Austria,  niece  of  a  pope,  a 
superb  egoism  was  her  natural  heritage,  as  it  was 
also  the  dominant  note  of  the  Italian  Renaissance, 
of  which  Marie  de  Medicis  was  preeminently  a 
product.  Furthermore  despotic  tendencies  in  her 
character  were  fostered  and  developed  by  her  early 
widowhood,  which  left  her,  at  thirty-seven  years 
of  age,  regent  and  sole  ruler  of  France. 

At  the  time  of  his  father's  death  Louis  XIII 
was  a  lad  of  nine  years,  and  his  mother,  while 
enjoying  to  the  full  the  power  of  the  regency, 
looked  forward  none  the  less  with  reluctance  to 
the  time  when  she  would  be  forced  to  relinquish 
the  reins  of  government  to  the  boy,  whom  she 
despised  as  an  ineffectual  rival,  and  upon  whom 
she  bestowed  little  of  a  mother's  tenderness. 

The  position  of  dowager  queen,  to  which  the 
approaching  majority  of  her  son  would  soon  rele- 
gate her,  Marie  de  Medicis  found  distasteful  and 
humiliating.  She  sought  to  ameliorate  its  horrors 
by  the  construction  of  a  vast  private  palace,  a 
monument  to  her  name  and  race,  an  expression 
of  her  own  vital  personality,  to  which  she  might 
retire,  nominally,  when  the  time  came,  in  consid- 


Photo  X 


THE  PALAIS   DTJ   LUXEMBOURG.      MARIE  DE   MEDICIS     PALACE. 
SALOMON    DE   BROSSE,   ARCHITECT. 


mfmr^mmrnmammm 


I'luilo  Alinari 


MARRIAGE  OF  HENRI   IV  A>D 
MARIE  DE   MEDICIS.      BY   RUBENS. 
DECORATION  FOR  THE  PALAIS 
DU   LUXEMBOURG. 
KOW   IN   THE   LOUVRE. 


I'liolo  Alinari 


HENRI   IV   CONFIDES   THE  KINGDOM 
TO    MARIE    DE    MEDICIS. 
DECORATION   FOR  THE  PALAIS 
DU   LUXEMBOURG. 
NOW  IN   THE   LOUVRE. 


CHAMBRE    A    COUCHER.       BED   CHAMBER  OF   MARIE   DE    MEDICIS. 
PALAIS    DU    LUXEJIBOURG. 


Photo   Braun  ct  Cie. 


DETAIL   FROM    THE   CROWNING  OF 

MARIE    DE    MEDICIS. 

BY    RtTBENS. 

DECORATION    FOR    THE    PALAIS 

DU    LUXEJIBOURG. 

LOUVRE.  


Photo  Alinari 


Plioto  X 


FONTAINE  DE    MEDICIS. 
BY    DE   BROSSE 
IX'XEMBOURG   GARDEN. 


DETAIL.       FONTAINE    DE   L'OBSERVATOIRE, 
LUXEMBOURG   GARDEN. 
BY    CARPEAUX. 


Photo  X 


FONTAINE   DE   L'OBSERVATOIRE. 
BY    CARPEAUX. 
LUXEMBOURG   GARDEN. 


Photo  E.  Fiorelli 


THE  LUXEMBOURG  491 

erable  splendour  and  without  sacrificing  appear- 
ances or  yielding  more  than  the  letter  of  her 
supremacy. 

Renouncing,  therefore,  the  two  large  residences 
of  the  rive  droite,  ^Nlarie  de  ]Medicis  selected  the 
calm  and  spacious  faubourg  Saint-Germain  as  the 
site  of  her  palace.  She  purchased,  in  1612,  the 
estate  of  Fran9ois  de  Luxembourg,  due  de  Piney, 
increasing  the  property  during  the  following  year 
by  a  number  of  acquisitions  and  exchanges.  At 
last,  in  1615,  having  cleared  the  united  properties 
of  all  the  existing  buildings,  the  palace  was  begun. 

Salomon  de  Brosse  was  the  architect.  History 
is  doubtful  as  to  his  identity,  his  origin,  and  his 
birth.  He  is  styled  both  nephew  and  student  of 
Du  Cerceau,  as  both  son  and  brother  of  Jean  de 
Brosse,  architect  to  JNIarguerite  de  Valois.  At  the 
time  of  which  we  speak  he  had  done  none  of  his 
great  work — the  portail  of  Saint-Gervais,  the 
aqueduct  of  Arceuil,  the  temple  of  Charenton, 
the  Salle  des  Pas  Perdus  of  the  Pedals,  the  chateaux 
of  JVIonceaux  and  of  Coulommiers  are  all  posterior 
to  the  ^Nledicis  palace  by  several  years.  He  was 
a  Huguenot,  yet  he  inspired  jNlarie  de  Medicis, 
who  was  a  fervent  Catholic,  with  absolute  confi- 
dence in  his  ability. 

The  palace  was  commenced  in  1615  and  finished 


492  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

in  1620.  The  plan  is  based  upon  a  study  of  the 
Pitti  Palace,  in  Florence,  Marie  de  ^Nledicis'  birth- 
place, to  which  the  palace  bears  indeed  a  certain 
resemblance.  De  Brosse  was  too  talented  a  man 
to  follow  blindly  his  distinguished  model;  he 
adapted  its  general  physiognomy,  subordinating  it 
to  the  current  French  traditions,  introducing  the 
long  galleries  and  high  corner  pavilions,  unknown 
to  Italy,  but  demanded  by  the  French  climate.  It 
was  the  queen's  idea  that  her  palace  should  be 
reminiscent  of  the  Florentine  masterpiece,  and  de 
Brosse  succeeded  so  well  that  his  plan  found  uni- 
versal favour. 

In  its  original  form  the  general  mass  of  the 
structure  formed  a  parallelogram  of  almost  exact 
symmetry.  The  architectural  decoration  of  the 
principal  fa9ade,  on  the  Rue  de  Vaugirard,  and 
in  the  grand  court,  was  practically  what  one  sees 
to-day.  But  the  sides  of  the  palace  were  length- 
ened in  1836-40  by  the  addition  of  a  third  section 
which  pushed  the  facade  towards  the  garden  out 
a  considerable  distance.  This  alteration  was  the 
most  important  of  the  many  changes  made  in  the 
original  plan  and  provided  the  necessary  space  for 
the  housing  of  the  senate  chamber. 

The  principal  entrance  to  the  palace  was 
through  a  court  of  honour  built  within  the  present 


THE  LUXEMBOURG  493 

couit,  raised  about  three  feet  above  the  main  court 
and  reached  by  a  row  of  semi-circular  steps. 
Three  doors  opened  from  this  court  of  Iionour 
above  which  were  placed  busts  of  Henri  IV, 
Marie  de  Medicis,  and  Louis  XIII.  The  original 
stairway  of  honour  was  within  these  doors,  where 
now  stands  the  colonnade.  Within,  the  ground 
floor  was  composed  of  great  halls  and  vaulted 
chambers,  reserved  for  the  different  functions  of 
the  guard. 

The  first  floor  contained  the  reception  and  cere- 
monial apartments  and  the  living  rooms  of  the 
queen.  These  faced  the  western  exposure  and 
communicated  with  the  long,  west  gallery,  a  splen- 
did room  with  windows  on  the  garden  and  on  the 
court,  designed  to  hold  the  decorations  by  Rubens, 
now  in  the  Louvre. 

The  magnificence  of  the  gardens  corresponded 
to  that  of  the  palace.  The  parterre  was  originally 
larger  but  not  so  deep  as  now;  it  was  bordered  on 
each  side  by  flat  bands  of  flowers  and  enclosed 
within  a  double  wall.  The  terraces  followed  the 
mode  of  the  day  and  were  planted  with  yew  and 
box  trees  cut  into  bizarre  shapes. 

The  fountains  were  fed  by  abundant  waters 
from  the  springs  of  Rongis  carried  through  the 
village  of  Arceuil,  where  had  been  found  the  re- 


494  A  LOITERER  IX  PARIS 

mains  of  the  Roman  aqueduct  which  transported 
the  waters  for  the  baths  of  the  Palais  des  Thermes. 
The  first  stone  in  its  reconstruction  was  laid  by 
the  queen  regent  and  Louis  XIII  in  1613.  It  was 
finished  in  1624  and  proved  a  blessing  to  the  city, 
for  the  demands  of  the  palace  and  gardens  were 
amply  satisfied  with  but  a  third  of  the  supply  of 
water  and  the  remainder  was  turned  over  to  pub- 
lic use. 

Sauval  described  the  parterre  as  the  largest  and 
most  magnificent  of  Europe,  and  John  Evelyn, 
writing  in  1644,  says:  "  The  parterre  is  indeed  of 
box,  but  so  rarely  design'd  and  accurately  kept 
cut,  that  the  embroidery  makes  a  wonderful  effect 
to  the  lodgings  which  front  it.  'Tis  divided  into 
four  squares,  and  as  many  circular  knots,  having 
in  ye  centre  a  noble  basin  of  marble  neere  thirty 
feet  in  diameter,  in  which  a  triton  of  brasse  holds 
a  dolphine  that  casts  a  girandola  of  water  neere 
thirty  foote  high,  playing  perpetually,  the  water 
being  convey 'd  from  Arceuil  by  an  aqueduct  of 
stone,  built  after  ye  old  Roman  magnificence." 

Marie  de  Medicis  occupied  her  palace  during  a 
tempestuous  period  following  the  young  king's 
accession  to  the  throne.  Devoured  by  love  of 
power,  she  was  incapable  of  directing  anything 
alone  and  obeyed  blindly  the  will  of  her  favourites. 


THE  LUXEMBOURG  495 

Concini  and  Eleanore  Galigai,  his  wife,  who  had 
accompanied  her  to  France.  Directed  by  •  these 
two  the  queen  exerted  her  fitful  influence,  worked 
her  stubborn  will,  now  through  the  weakness  of 
the  king,  now  through  her  mouthpiece,  Richelieu, 
whose  power  at  first  was  of  her  making  and  whom 
she  regarded  as  her  creation  and  tool. 

Desiring  to  have  her  coadjutor  at  hand  the 
queen  gave  him  a  portion  of  her  land  upon  which 
to  erect  a  house,  adjacent  to  her  own.  This  was 
the  Hotel  du  Petit  Luxembourg  and  here  Richelieu 
resided  until  the  Palais  Royal  was  built.  One  can 
measure  his  growth  by  these  buildings  alone. 
When  he  had  attained  the  dignity  of  the  latter  he 
repaid  the  generosity  of  the  queen  mother  by 
abandoning  his  estate  to  his  niece,  the  duchesse 
d'Aiguillon,  whom  INIarie  de  ^Nledicis  bitterly  de- 
tested and  desired  to  have  banished  from  the  court. 
The  Petit  Luxembourg  is  now  the  official  resi- 
dence of  the  president  of  the  senate. 

Meanwhile  in  the  miast  of  everything  the  queen 
became  embroiled  in  political  quarrels  and  court 
jealousies.  Her  violent  and  dominating  nature 
tended  to  push  all  things  to  excess,  both  friend- 
ships and  hatreds.  She  excited  against  herself, 
and  her  favourite  Concini,  the  enmity  of  the  court, 
and  after  many  painful  scenes  Richelieu,  who  was 


496  A  LOITERER  IX  PARIS 

now  hand  in  glove  with  the  king,  had  her  banished 
from  Paris. 

The  chateau  of  Blois  was  the  scene  of  her  cap- 
tivity from  1617  to  1620,  and  her  escape  forms 
one  of  the  subjects  of  the  series  of  panels  which 
Rubens  painted  for  the  palace.  Balls,  fetes,  and 
a  round  of  gaieties  followed  her  return  and  cele- 
brated her  restoration  to  favour  and  power. 
jNIarie,  in  the  intoxication  of  the  moment,  thought 
her  fortunes  assured  forever,  and  abandoned  her- 
self once  again  to  the  beautification  of  her  palace, 
calling  to  Paris  the  greatest  painter  of  the  day, 
then  in  the  height  of  his  power  and  renown. 

The  fame  of  Rubens,  at  this  time,  filled  the  ears 
of  the  civilized  world.  Pie  was  in  demand  at  all 
the  courts  of  Europe  as  ambassador  as  well  as 
painter.  His  familiarity  with  diplomatic  circles 
rendered  the  Flemish  painter  eminently  the  artist 
to  cope  with  the  difficult  task  which  Marie  de 
Medicis'  vanity  imposed  upon  him.  It  was  indeed 
a  delicate  matter  to  satisfy  the  colossal  conceit  of 
the  queen  without  incurring  the  displeasure  of  the 
king  and  of  Gaston  d'Orleans,  to  say  nothing  of 
that  of  the  more  formidable  Richelieu. 

Rubens  chose  the  allegorical  style  of  subject, 
then  in  vogue,  as  the  most  neutral  mode  of  expres- 
sion, as  well  as  that  best  adapted  to  the  purpose 


THE  LUXEMBOURG  497 

of  decoration.  He  remained  in  Paris,  on  his  first 
visit  to  the  court,  about  a  month,  planning  the 
work  with  the  queen  and  familiarising  himself 
with  the  political  situation  and  the  tempers  of  his 
clients.  The  preliminary  sketches  were  finished 
within  about  two  months  after  his  departure,  and 
in  ]May,  1622,  were  submitted  to  the  queen  to- 
gether with  a  general  plan  of  the  west  gallery. 

All  of  his  compositions  were  approved  with  the 
exception  of  one  which  depicted  the  queen  being 
sent  into  exile  at  Blois,  conducted  by  Rage, 
Calumny,  and  Hate,  and  portraits  of  the  queen's 
parents,  the  Grand-Duke  Francis  of  Tuscany  and 
Johanna  of  Austria,  were  substituted  for  this  can- 
vas. These  sketches,  to  the  artist  much  more 
valuable  and  interesting  than  the  finished  decora- 
tions, are  preserved  in  the  Alte  Pinakothek,  at 
jSIunich. 

One  year  later  Rubens  again  visited  Paris, 
bringing  with  him  nine  finished  canvases.  The 
queen,  who  was  at  Fontainebleau,  came  up  to 
Paris  expressly  to  see  them  and  was  delighted. 
On  his  return  to  Antwerp  Rubens  continued  the 
work  with  great  rapidity,  partly  because  he  must 
have  seen  the  unstable  position  of  Marie  de 
Medicis,  and  have  been  anxious  to  deliver  the 
work,  for  which  the  recompense  was  a  considera- 


408  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

tion,  and  partly  also  to  accomplish  its  installation 
in  time  for  the  wedding  of  Henriette  de  France 
with  Charles  I,  of  England. 

He  brought  the  whole  series  to  Paris  in  January, 
1625,  and  installed  himself  in  the  east  gallery 
of  the  palace,  which,  having  the  same  exposure 
and  arrangement  as  the  room  for  which  they  were 
intended,  served  as  the  best  of  studios  for  the  pur- 
pose. Here  he  put  the  final  touches  to  the  can- 
vases, and  here  he  painted  the  coronation  of  the 
queen,  by  the  cardinal  de  Joyeuse,  at  Saint-Denis, 
for  which  the  queen  and  notables  of  the  court, 
figuring  in  the  composition,  posed,  and  here  he 
made  the  queen's  own  portrait,  as  Bellona. 

Finally,  on  May  1,  1625,  all  was  in  place  and 
the  king,  the  queen  mother,  and  the  court  gave  it 
an  enthusiastic  approval.  The  west  gallery,  as 
has  been  said,  was  lighted  by  windows  on  both 
sides  and  the  pictures  occupied  the  piers  between 
the  windows  and  at  the  ends  of  the  room.  At  one 
end  was  the  portrait  of  the  queen  in  the  character 
of  Bellona,  the  goddess  of  war,  placed  over  a 
monumental  chimney-piece.  This  portrait  w^as 
flanked  by  portraits  of  the  grand-duke  and  grand- 
duchess  of  Tuscany,  in  spaces  above  the  two  doors. 
The  ceiling  was  richly  ornamented  by  caissons  and 


THE  LUXEMBOURG  499 

paintings  of  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac,  by 
Jacques  Jordaens,  Rubens'  pupil  and  friend. 

It  has  become  fashionable  to  decry  this  pro- 
digious work  of  the  Flemish  painter,  as  not  only 
inferior  in  quality  to  his  great  achievements,  but 
as  the  mere  hast}'^  output  of  his  school.  So  great 
a  genius  as  Rubens  rides  easily  over  this  unmerited 
criticism  and  the  canvases  themselves  show  too 
much  mastery  of  composition,  too  much  fluency 
of  painting,  too  much  joy  of  colour  to  have  been 
done  by  apprentices,  however  clever.  The  panels 
were  not  hastily  done,  they  were  done  with  a 
rapidity  born  of  enthusiasm  and  carried  through, 
as  one  can  see,  with  one  inspiration;  the  work 
really  gains  in  consequence. 

It  is  true  that  his  students  helped;  they  were 
accustomed  to  throw  the  composition  roughly  upon 
the  large  canvases  from  the  small  sketches,  to  pre- 
pare the  work  for  the  master,  and  it  might  even 
be  easy  to  say  to  which  canvases  Jordaens  put  his 
brush.  Rubens'  atelier  was  a  strong  one  including 
with  Jordaens,  who  was  to  become  a  master  him- 
self, such  capable  painters  as  Diepenbeck,  Van 
Thulden,  Van  Egmont,  C.  Schut,  and  Simon  de 
Vos.  But  we  know  that  Rubens  made  the 
sketches,  and  that  he  worked  upon  the   canvases 


500  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

in  Paris  and  that  he  j^ainted  the  coronation  scene 
and  the  portraits  in  the  pahice  itself. 

As  for  the  jjainting  the  pictures  are  not  the 
equal  of  such  outstanding  masterpieces  as  the 
Descent  from  the  Cross,  of  Antwerp,  nor  of 
the  marvellous  RajJe  of  the  Sabine  Wo7Jie7i  nor 
the  Inferno  of  Munich,  nor  of  the  great  treasures 
of  the  Prado,  but  they  show  nevertheless  an  inex- 
haustible strength  and  fertility  of  invention,  an 
infinite  variety,  a  knowledge  and  a  virtuosity  evi- 
dent to  every  thoughtful  observer. 

The  Marriage  of  Henri  IV  and  Marie  de 
Medicis  at  Lyon,  is  one  of  the  most  striking  of 
the  collection  and  the  head  of  Henri  IV  is  per- 
haps the  most  perfect  existing  portrait  of  the 
king.  The  Coronation  of  Marie  de  3Iedicis  at 
Saint-Denis  is  regarded  as  the  most  successful  of 
the  historical  series  and  it  is  classed  amongst 
Rubens'  most  important  works. 

The  series  is  composed  of  twenty-one  allegorical 
flatteries,  under  which  one  reads  easily  the  char- 
acter of  the  haughty,  obstinate,  and  false  Marie, 
this  princess  of  weak  character,  of  violent  pas- 
sions, proud  in  prosperity,  humble  and  suppliant 
in  adversity,  who  by  her  detestable  character  be- 
came insufferable  to  her  husband  and  her  son,  and 
who    alienated   her   very    favourites.      Under    the 


THE  LUXEMBOURG  501 

pure  painting  is  the  revelation  of  Rubens'  complete 
sizing  up  of  the  situation  which  his  bravura 
scarcely  takes  the  trouble  to  conceal.  He  seems 
to  have  known  that  with  Marie 'de  jNIedicis  there 
was  no  fear  of  going  too  far,  that  she  would  accept 
avidl}^  flattery  however  fulsomely  presented — the 
great  point  was  that  there  should  be  "  sufficiently 
enough." 

Rubens  hands  it  to  her  strong,  as  the  phrase  is, 
in  such  a  picture  as  that  which  depicts  Henri  IV 
receiving  her  portrait  with  an  imbecile  smile  of 
rapture — "  Quelle  femme! "  he  seems  to  be  saying 
to  himself  of  this  smug,  self-satisfied  face.  But 
she  was  far  from  being  as  beautiful  as  Henri 
thought  from  her  portrait.  "  Grande,  grosse,  avec 
des  yeiuc  ronds  et  fixes,  elle  navait  rien  de  cares- 
sant  dans  les  manieresr  says  Sismondi,  ""  aucune 
galete  dans  Vesprit." 

How  he  exposes  her  in  such  a  picture  as  that 
in  which  with  an  air  of  false  humility  and  self- 
effacement  she  leaves  the  helm  of  France  to  the 
inexpert  Louis  XIH;  or  in  that  where,  upon  the 
apotheosis  of  Henri  IV,  she  sinks  at  last  upon  the 
throne  urged  by  the  insistence  of  every  factor  of 
the  kingdom;  or  again  where,  having  given  birth 
to  the  puny  Louis,  she  occupies  the  centre  of  an 
admiring  group  of  goddesses;  or  in  the  fabulous 


502  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

exaggeration  of  the  Fclicite  de  la  Regence — that 
regency  which  as  we  know  brought  disaster  to 
France  and  to  Marie  the  hatred  of  her  subjects. 

The  queen  planned  that  Rubens  should  decorate 
the  east  gallery  of  the  palace  with  the  events  of 
the  life  of  Henri  IV,  but  this  wing  was  unfinished 
in  her  lifetime,  and  in  any  case,  the  political  in- 
trigues and  discords,  which  led  to  the  final  banish- 
ment of  the  queen  mother,  forced  her  to  renounce 
the  project.  It  was  characteristic  of  her  that  she 
took  the  precaution  to  secure  her  own  series 
first. 

The  story  of  her  undoing  is  pitiful  in  its  com- 
pleteness. Her  last  years  were  a  succession  of 
exiles.  They  first  wished  to  send  her  back  to 
Florence,  but  she,  shrinking  with  all  the  strength 
of  her  racial  pride  against  humiliation  before  her 
own  people,  urged  the  king  to  send  her  only  to 
Compiegne.  Later  she  was  banished  to  Brussels, 
then  to  Ghent,  and  finally  she  fled  to  the  court 
of  her  son-in-law,  Charles  I,  under  whose  protec- 
tion she  spent  two  years.  At  last  the  poor  lady, 
bereft  of  all  power  and  reduced  to  a  state  border- 
ing upon  indigence,  was  obliged  to  retire  to 
Cologne,  where,  stripped  of  all  insignia  of  royalty, 
she  died,  in  1642,  an  old  woman  of  sixty-nine 
years. 


THE  LUXEMBOURG  503 

Amongst  her  colossal  faults  one  virtue  shines 
out  strong,  a  virtue  hereditary  in  her  family,  that 
of  protecting  the  arts  and  letters.  She  gave  pen- 
sions to  Malherbe,  and  to  Marin;  named  Philippe 
de  Champaigne  court  painter,  commanded  of 
Rubens  this  series  of  decorations;  constructed  the 
Luxembourg  Palace,  built  the  aqueduct  of  Arceuil, 
and  founded  the  Hopital  de  la  Charite. 

The  old  palace  of  Marie  de  Medicis  has  not 
played  a  role  so  considerable  in  history  as  has  the 
Louvre  or  the  Tuileries,  but  its  part  has  neverthe- 
less been  brilliant  and  colourful.  On  her  exile 
from  France  the  queen  gave  the  estate  to  her 
favourite  son,  Gaston  d'Orleans,  under  whom  it 
became  the  scene  of  the  revels  of  a  wild  and  dis- 
sipated society  of  which  he  was  the  leader.  When 
the  duke  died  the  palace  was  inherited  by  his  two 
daughters,  the  grande  3Iademoiselle,  and  the  pious 
duchesse  de  Guise.  It  was  here  that  3Iade- 
moiselle  received  the  visits  of  M.  de  Lauzun,  to 
whom,  to  the  amazement  and  incredulity  of  the 
court,  she  was  briefly  betrothed.  Lauzun  was 
endowed  with  the  titles,  the  names,  the  ornaments 
necessary  to  be  named  in  such  a  contract  of  mar- 
riage, the  prospective  bride  herself  gave  him  four 
duchies  of  France  and  the  name  of  jNIontpensier. 
The  estate  was  estimated  at  twenty-two  millions. 


504  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

The  contract  was  prepared  but  at  the  last  moment 
Louis  XIV  withdrew  his  consent.  Mademoiselle 
was  one  of  the  gaiest  figures  of  the  XVIIth  cen- 
tury. She  inherited  the  intelligence,  the  lack  of 
scruple,  and  the  spirit  of  intrigue  of  her  father, 
and  though  she  never  married  was  proposed  suc- 
cessively for  the  hands  of  Louis  XIV,  Philij)  IV 
of  Spain,  the  Prince  of  Wales  (later  Charles  II 
of  England),  and  the  emperor  Ferdinand  III. 
Voltaire  writes  of  her :  "  Lorsqiton  porta  le  deuil 
de  Cromwell  a  la  cour  de  France,  Mademoiselle  fut 
la  S]eul  qui  ne  rendit  point  cet  hommage  a  la  me- 
moir e  du  meurtrier  d'un  roi  so7i  jjarentf' 

The  last  royal  owner  of  the  Luxembourg  was 
the  comte  de  Provence,  known  familiarly  as  Mon- 
sieur, afterwards  Louis  XVIII.  When  he  fled 
from  Paris  at  the  time  of  Napoleon's  return  from 
Elba,  his  goods  were  confiscated  and  the  Luxem- 
bourg became  national  property. 

During  the  Reign  of  Terror,  when  the  ordinary 
prisons  were  insufficient  to  hold  the  victims  of  the 
Revolution,  the  Luxembourg  Palace  was  converted 
into  a  house  of  detention  where  were  imprisoned, 
pele-mele,  without  distinction  of  rank  or  fortune, 
numerous  suspects.  The  list  of  unfortunates  in- 
cluded Alexandre  de  Beauharnais  and  his  wife, 
Josephine    de    la    Pagerie,    Camille    Desmoulins, 


THE  LUXEMBOURG  505 

Danton,  Philippeaux,  Robespierre,  and  David,  the 
painter. 

Upon  the  estabhshment  of  the  constitution  of 
1795  the  palace  became  the  seat  of  government 
and  was  consecrated  to  the  use  of  the  five  direc- 
tors. The  Consulat  followed  the  Directoire,  with 
Napoleon  as  first  consul  in  recognition  of  his 
magnificent  victories  in  Egypt  and  Syria,  and  the 
Luxembourg  became  the  Palais  du  Consulat.  In 
1801  Napoleon  created  the  senate  which  three 
years  later  was  to  declare  him  emperor.  The 
palace  became  the  seat  of  the  new  government  and 
was  known  as  the  Palais  du  Senat. 

We  know  the  garden  to  have  been  the  site  of 
the  Roman  camp  which  protected  the  palace  of 
the  Ceesars  until  the  time  of  Eonorius.  The  his- 
tory of  the  gardens  then  becomes  that  of  the 
romantic  old  Chateau  Vauvert,  a  maiso7i  de 
plaisance,  said  to  have  been  built  by  Robert  the 
Pious,  and  to  have  stood  where  now  begins  the 
allce  of  the  Observatoire.  Tradition  said  that 
the  house  was  haunted,  that  it  was  the  abode  of  the 
devil  himself,  and  brave  men  hesitated  to  pass 
along  the  road  at  night  because  of  the  dreadful 
noises  which  issued  from  the  manor  and  the  fre- 
quent evils  which  befell  nocturnal  ramblers  in  the 
vicinity. 


506  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

The  monks  of  Chartreuse  begged  the  estate 
from  Saint-Louis  and  established  themselves  there 
in  1257.  The  court,  the  two  cloisters,  the  church, 
and  the  cells,  composed  each  of  a  distinct  pavilion, 
following  the  usages  of  the  order,  covered  a  space 
large  enough  to  contain  a  city.  The  church  con- 
tained a  number  of  illustrious  sepulchres  and  from 
the  cloister  were  taken  the  series  of  pictures,  rep- 
resenting the  Life  of  Saint-Bruno,  by  Lesueur, 
now  in  the  Louvre. 

For  her  garden,  Marie  de  Medicis  exchanged  a 
large  tract  of  land  lying  on  the  other  side  of  the 
monastery,  towards  the  Observatoire,  for  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  their  property.  She  en- 
croached also  upon  the  domain  of  another  religious 
order,  the  Filles  du  Calvaire.  A  charming 
souvenir  of  this  scattered  order  is  preserved  in  the 
pretty  Renaissance  chapel,  which  can  be  seen  from 
the  Rue  de  Vaugirard,  west  of  the  Petit  Luxem- 
bourg. It  was  built  by  the  queen  and  presented 
to  the  nuns  in  recompense  for  the  ground  taken 
for  the  garden. 

The  Revolution  swept  away  royalties  and  made 
wholesale  havoc  of  the  estates  of  the  many  reli- 
gious bodies,  which  occupied  one-third  of  the  area 
of  Paris.  The  Filles  du  Calvaire  were  put  to 
flight.     The   monastery    of   the   Peres    Chartreux 


THE  LUXEMBOURG  507 

was  completely  destroyed.  The  pepiniere  of  the 
Luxembourg,  the  allce  of  the  Observatoire,  the 
botanical  gardens,  houses  and  streets  now  cover 
the  site. 

Aside  from  its  rich  past,  the  garden  gains  pe- 
culiar significance  from  its  situation  in  the  heart 
of  the  intellectual  quarter  of  Paris.  Most  of  the 
institutions  of  learning  surround  it — it  is  the  gar- 
den of  the  University — and  artists  have  estab- 
lished their  general  quarter  in  the  adjoining 
streets. 

The  museum  of  modern  painters,  the  palace  of 
the  senate,  and  the  national  theatre  of  the  Odeon 
mark  its  northern  boundary.  At  its  southern  ex- 
tremity rises  the  silhouette  of  the  Observatoire, 
while  its  eastern  length  faces  at  every  opening  a 
series  of  historic  institutions.  The  main  eastern 
gateway  opens  upon  the  broad  Rue  Soufflot,  closed 
by  the  imposing  vista  of  the  Pantheon.  To  the 
left  lie  the  law  school,  the  Sorbonne,  the  Uni- 
versity of  Paris,  the  Cluny  Museum,  the  School 
of  Medicine,  etc.;  and  to  the  right,  the  Ecole  des 
Mines. 

Not  in  Paris,  nor  in  any  city  of  France,  nor, 
perhaps,  in  the  whole  world  exists  a  garden  of 
nobler  aspect,  more  graceful  design,  of  projjor- 
tions  more   perfect  and   harmonious.     While  the 


508  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Tuileries  were  made  over,  by  Lenotre,  the  Luxem- 
bourg retains  its  old  Renaissance  form.  A  foun- 
tain, by  de  Brosse,  contemporary  with  the  palace, 
lies  towards  the  Rue  de  Medicis;  another,  by  Car- 
peaux,  a  chef-d'oeuvre  of  the  XlXth  century, 
makes  glorious  the  allee  of  the  Observatoire. 

The  charm  of  this  old  garden  is  of  a  subtlety,  a 
simplicity,  which  does  not  arrest  superficial  atten- 
tion, but  sinks  in  more  and  more  profoundly  as 
acquaintance  with  its  varied  aspect  grows.  One 
must  know  it  bleak  and  bare  in  winter.  One  must 
have  watched  its  gradual  transformation  in  the 
early  spring.  One  must  have  idled  away  there 
dreamy,  summer  twilights  and  walked  through 
the  rustling,  russet  carpet  in  the  autumn,  when, 
especially  towards  the  Pantheon,  the  great  trees 
have  turned  to  glowing  masses  of  rust  and  the 
terraces  are  vivid  with  the  bright  bloom  of  the 
late  flowering  plants. 

The  noble  dignity  of  the  palace,  the  elegance  of 
the  formal  garden  appeal  to  every  esthetic  sense, 
are  to  feed  upon  and  live  into.  As  one  gives  up 
to  the  charm  of  the  exquisite  whole  every  finer 
instinct  is  stirred  and  satisfied.  What  poem,  what 
picture,  Avhat  music  is  more  elevating  than  the 
spectacle  of  the  garden  on  a  sunny  morning,  its 
fundamental  setting  decked  with  flowers,  nested  in 


THE  LUXEMBOURG  509 

by  birds,  and  peopled  with  the  gay  French  life 
smiling  out  its  destiny  before  one?  It  exhales  the 
very  essence  of  happiness. 

It  slips  with  even  closer  sympathy  into  one's 
minor  moods  when,  wrapj)ed  in  the  first  cool,  close 
mist  of  those  rare,  unrelated  days  of  late  Septem- 
ber, a  penetrating  tristesse  pervades  and  tempers 
the  joy  of  living.  Then  it  is  like  a  great  cathedral, 
full  of  mystery  and  quiet. 

But  most  sensitive  and  tender  it  becomes  in 
early  October,  when  the  birds  and  the  foreigners 
have  taken  wing  and  the  marroniers,  having  shaken 
free  of  their  crackling  russet,  unfold  confidingly 
again  into  flower  and  the  more  sheltered  trees 
show  rifts  of  high-green  leaves,  their  last  touch- 
ing protest  against  the  inroads  of  winter.  Then 
it  is  delicious  to  linger  late  in  the  open,  to  take  all 
one  can  of  this  sweet  parting. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
SCATTERED  TREASURES 

There  are  amongst  the  monuments  of  Paris 
those  which  astound  by  their  grandeur,  like  Notre- 
Dame  and  the  Louvre;  those  which  satisfy  by 
the  perfection  of  their  setting,  hke  the  Luxem- 
bourg, the  Concorde,  and  the  Place  des  Vosges; 
those  which  act  as  great  architectural  axes,  like 
the  Sacre-Coeur,  the  Pantheon,  the  Madeleine, 
and  Saint-Sulpice;  those  which  serve  a  more  inti- 
mate purpose  of  decoration,  like  the  Sorbonne, 
Val  de  Grace,  the  Institut,  and  the  Invalides; 
and  those  which  stand  apart  and  unique,  scattered 
like  jewels  through  the  city — I'Auxerrois,  Carna- 
valet,  Cluny,  the  Sainte-Chapelle,  the  Triumphal 
Arch  of  the  Carrousel,  and  Saint-Etienne-du- 
Mont. 

Of  these  last,  each  so  perfect  in  its  way,  it  is, 
perhaps,  Saint-Etienne-du-Mont  which  rests 
closest  upon  the  heart — this  hijou  of  the  Renais- 
sance, this  delicious  flower  of  architecture,  so 
perverse,   so   quaint,    so   exquisite,    which,    though 

510 


P/iOfo    Z 


SAINT-ETIENNE-DU-MONT. 


Photo  ^ 


SAINT-ETIENNE-DU-MONT : 

I.NTERIOK.    SHOWIKG   THE-  RO0D-IX)PT. 


SCATTERED  TREASURES    513 

half  hidden  bv  the  Pantheon,  makes  of  that  vast 
monument  its  background. 

Irregular  and  capricious  in  its  construction,  it 
charms  by  its  coquetry  and  its  movement,  by  its 
variety  and  its  grace.  From  the  peak  of  its 
exceedingly  pointed  gable  to  the  base  of  its  quasi- 
classic  portico;  from  the  vaulted  north  porch  with 
its  period  doors  to  the  tip  of  the  lanthorn  sur- 
mounting the  tall,  slim  tower;  from  the  urns  and 
statues  of  the  lower  facade,  to  the  oval  rosace  of 
the  gable  with  its  expressive  symbol  of  eternity, 
Saint-Etienne-du-Mont  charms. 

Nothing  more  indigenous  could  possibly  gi'ow 
out  of  that  wayward  old  Rue  de  la  Montagne- 
Sainte-Genevieve,  of  which  it  seems  the  ultimate 
expression — the  ultimate  expression  of  that  old 
Paris,  of  which  this  street,  for  those  whose  vision 
can  pierce  the  shabbiness  of  its  decline,  was  the 
very  essence  and  character.  Clovis  himself  might 
have  blazed  the  trail  over  the  virgin  soil  of  the 
mountain,  when  he  picked  its  summit  for  his  re- 
nowned basilica.  ' 

The  antiquated  north  porch,  with  its  semi- 
circular flight  of  stone  steps,  which  continue  the 
upward  slope  of  the  hill,  set  in  strangely  under 
the  slender  belfry,  is  all  in  keeping  with  the  old 
neighbourhood    and    the    oddly    precipitous    ^;/flC<? 


514  A  LOITERER  IX  PARIS 

before  the  entrance.  The  west  portail,  built  dur- 
ing the  first  j^ears  of  the  XVIIth  century,  turns 
sympathetically  to  meet  the  north  porch  and  in- 
vites the  loiterer  to  round  the  bend  to  inspect  the 
chief  entrance.  At  the  angle  a  mediaeval  tourelle, 
with  a  conical  top,  hugs  closely  to  a  bit  of  high- 
pitched  roof,  and,  above  the  whole,  the  svelte 
belfry  rises  to  an  elegant  height,  supported  by 
the  finest  of  tourelles  enclosing  the  spiral  stair- 
way, and  at  the  top  of  the  tower  an  octagonal 
lanthorn  dominates  the  platform.  The  piquancy 
of  the  belfry  is  accentuated  by  long  rifts  in  the 
stone,  for  so  appear  the  windows,  both  pointed 
and  round  arched,  contributing  to  its  lightness; 
the  ornaments  of  the  lower  story  are  still  Gothic, 
and  from  the  entablature  grotesque  gargoyles  jut 
out  from  the  face  of  the  wall  and  spill  the  rain  from 
the  steep  roof  upon  the  passers-by. 

The  origin  of  the  church  is  confounded  with 
that  of  Sainte-Genevieve,  to  which  an  earlier 
Xlllth  century  edifice  was  intended  as  a  suc- 
cursale.  The  present  church  was  projected  dur- 
ing the  first  years  of  the  reign  of  Francois  I  and 
the  portail  was  built  by  that  naughty  Queen 
Margot,  for  though  the  Medicis  had  replaced  her, 
she  too  would  leave  her  monument  to  Paris. 

And  was  she  as  naughty  as  they  said?     Her 


SCATTERED  TREASURES    515 

portraits  are  so  contradictory;  in  one  she  is  a 
beautiful  child,  in  another  a  designing  young 
minx,  another  shows  a  dignified  woman,  and  a 
fourth — well  it  is  all  headdress,  one  does  not 
know  what  to  make  of  it.  They  said  she  chose  a 
hotel  in  the  Rue  de  Seine  as  her  domicile,  because 
^'^  il  lui  jjarut  piquant  de  dejneurer  vis-a-vis  du 
Louvre,  oil  regnait  Marie  de  Medicis."  Coryat 
writes,  in  1611,  "  I  saw  Queene  Margarite,  the 
king's  divorced  wife,  being  carried  by  men  in  the 
open  streets  under  a  stately  canopy."  But  Sully 
whom  Marie  de  Medicis  had  alienated,  by  her 
extravagant  caprices,  found  her — by  contrast 
surely — resigned,  disinterested,  and  sweet  of 
temper. 

Saint-Etienne  was  begun  at  the  apse;  the  choir 
was  finished  in  1537;  and  on  August  2,  1610, 
Marguerite  de  Valois  placed  the  first  stone  of  the 
portail,  and  gave  three  thousand  livres  towards  its 
erection.  Finally  we  read,  on  a  black  marble 
tablet  imbedded  in  the  north  wall  of  the  nave  that, 
in  1626,  on  Sexagesima  Sunday,  under  Pope 
Urbain  VIII  and  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIII, 
the  church  and  high  altar  were  consecrated,  under 
the  evocation  of  Saint  Stephen.  Another  inscrip- 
tion, placed  under  the  first,  relates  that,  during 
the   ceremony   of   consecration,    two   girls    of   the 


516  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

parish  fell  from  the  galleries  of  the  choir  with  a 
portion  of  the  balustrade  upon  which  they  were 
leaning,  and  were  miraculously  preserved  from  all 
hurt,  and  that  their  fall  occasioned  no  accident, 
though  the  assemblage  of  persons  was  great. 

Saint-Etienne  has  all  the  advantages.  It  has 
an  ancient  and  romantic  history,  it  has  a  beautiful 
shell,  it  has  a  noble  destination  as  the  reliquary  of 
the  only  tangible  souvenir  of  Sainte-Genevieve, 
the  patron  saint  of  Paris,  its  interior  exceeds,  if 
possible,  the  adorable  beauty  of  the  outside,  and 
it  has  a  glorious  series  of  windows. 

The  aisles  are  the  whole  height  of  the  church, 
the  monotony  broken  by  the  triforium  which  runs 
merely  from  pillar  to  pillar  along  the  sides  of  the 
nave  and  choir  and  is  interrupted  by  the  transept. 
In  the  choir  it  is  reached  by  twisted  stairways 
wreathed  around  the  pillars  on  each  side,  the 
whole  contrivance  of  triforium  and  spiral  stair- 
ways leading  up  to  the  feature  of  the  curious  in- 
terior, the  unique  and  beautiful  rood-loft,  the  only 
one  left  in  Paris,  and  considered  a  chef-d'oeuvre 
of  open  stone  work.  It  was  erected  by  Pierre 
Biard,  in  1609. 

Thrown  boldly  across  the  face  of  the  sanctuary, 
its  tourelles  mounting  well  above  the  platform, 
the   balustrades    suspended    in   mid-air,    and    thin 


SCATTERED  TREASURES    517 

colonettes  forming  the  only  visible  means  of  sup- 
port, this  jubc  presents  in  its  construction  a  series 
of  fabulous  difficulties  which  the  architect  set  him- 
self as  though  merely  to  show  his  dexterity.  An- 
gels, palms,  foliage,  interlaced  motifs,  masks,  deco- 
rate the  spandrils,  the  archivolts,  and  friezes.  The 
jube  is  completed  by  two  doors  which  close  the 
ambulatory,  so  that  the  whole  of  the  choir  and 
apse  is  screened  off  from  the  nave  and  aisles. 
These  doors  are  again  in  openwork  design,  -in 
keeping  with  the  lightness  of  the  effect  intended; 
and  above  them,  in  the  broken  pediments,  sit  two 
figures  in  stone,  gracefully  modelled. 

The  organ  is  a  magnificent  specimen  of  wood- 
carving  of  the  XVIIth  century;  the  pulpit  is  car- 
ried on  the  shoulders  of  Samson. 

When  the  abbey  of  Port  Roval  was  destroyed, 
in  1710,  the  body  of  Racine  was  transferred  to 
Saint-Etienne  and  buried  in  the  vault  of  the 
chapel  of  the  Virgin,  near  the  remains  of  Pascal. 

When  Sainte- Genevieve  was  destroyed  the  stone 
sarcophagus  of  the  saint  was  found  in  the  crypt, 
where  it  had  been  since  511,  though  the  relics  had 
long  since  been  removed  and  put  into  the  cliasse 
of  which  we  have  spoken.  The  poor  relics  of  the 
body,  so  piously  reverenced  by  the  Parisians,  so 
often  carried  in  processions  through  the  streets  in 


518  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

times  of  stress,  were,  as  we  know,  burned  during 
the  Revolution,  in  the  Place  de  Greve.  Deputy 
Fayau  had  the  delicacy  to  send  the  pope  an  ac- 
count of  this  pretty  ceremony.  But  the  sar- 
cophagus somehow  escaped,  and,  having  always 
been  venerated,  now  became  the  last  link  with 
that  precious  legendary  figure. 

Enclosed  in  a  modern  receptacle  it  is  preserved 
in  one  of  the  chapels  of  the  apse.  Candles  are 
always  burning  at  the  shrine  and  at  the  neuvaine 
of  the  saint  thousands  come  to  pray  at  the 
sepulchre. 

Saint-Etienne  is  a  rich  museum  of  painted  glass, 
possessing  an  almost  complete  collection  of  re- 
markable models  from  the  middle  of  the  XVIth 
century  to  the  epoch  of  the  last  painter  of  note 
at  the  commencement  of  the  XVI Ith  century. 
The  oldest  glass  is  contained  in  the  five  high 
windows  of  the  apse,  and  there  are  others  in  the 
nave,  and  in  the  chapel  of  Sainte- Genevieve, 
where  have  been  assembled  the  nine  windows  for- 
merly placed  under  the  arches  of  the  charnel 
house,  which,  attached  to  the  apse,  was  disposed 
in  the  form  of  a  cloister  enclosing  a  small  court. 

The  windows  display  the  art  of  the  ablest  paint- 
ers of  their  day — Jean  Cousin,  Claude  Henriet, 
Enguerrand  Lepreuce,  Pinaigrier,  Michu,   Fran- 


SCATTERED  TREASURES    519 

9ois  Periez,  Nicolas  Desengives,  Nicolas  Levas- 
seur,  and  Jean  Mounier  are  represented.  Six 
large  windows  have  been  preserved  in  the  col- 
lateral chapels  of  the  choir,  and  the  western  rose 
is  exceedingly  handsome.  The  parishioners  of 
Saint-Etienne  were  inordinately  fond  of  glass  and 
the  list  of  donors,  headed  by  a  rich  wine  merchant, 
who  made  the  most  liberal  foundations  for  the 
purpose,  is  a  long  one. 

What  Saint-Etienne  represents  for  ecclesias- 
tical architecture  the  Hotel  de  Cluny,  which  is 
but  a  short  walk  down  the  hill,  represents  for 
civil  architecture.  Constructed  both  at  a  moment 
of  transition,  both  show  Gothic  principles  cheered 
bv  a  strain  of  the  Renaissance.  Cluny  is  older 
and  more  serious ;  in  Saint-Etienne  the  Renaissance 
strain  develops  a  theme,  with  variations. 

If  Carnavalet  is  the  most  consistently  charming 
of  the  few  preserved  private  residences  of  older 
Paris,  Cluny  is  clearly  the  most  distinguished. 
Large  and  stately,  the  walls,  the  court,  the  gar- 
dens, the  ornamentation,  the  many-sided  tower 
with  its  stone  staircase,  the  open  balustrade,  the 
chimneys,  and  the  windows,  all  bespeak  the  taste 
and  elegance  of  its  builders;  while  the  polished 
interior  of  this  harmonious  and  beautiful  old 
house  is  all  in  keeping  with  the  best  traditions. 


520  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

From  the  point  of  view  of  its  destination,  the 
Hotel  de  Cluny  is  even  more  fortunate  than 
Carnavalet,  though  one  museum  complements  the 
other  and  the  history  of  Paris  is  grasped  between 
the  two.  The  building,  the  furniture,  and  the 
ornaments  of  Cluny  are  in  perfect  keeping  and 
the  illusion  of  the  past  is  admirably  maintained. 
With  the  Hotel  de  Sens  it  may  be  considered 
a  model  of  XVth  century  civil  architecture. 

In  the  first  half  of  the  XlVth  century,  about 
the  year  1340,  Pierre  de  Chaslus,  abbot  of  Cluny, 
bought  the  site  of  the  old  Palais  des  Thermes, 
intending  to  build  a  lodging  near  the  college 
which  his  abbey  possessed,  not  far  from  the  Sor- 
bonne.  This  project  was  not  carried  out,  but  in 
the  XVth  century  Jean  de  Bourbon,  a  successor 
of  Chaslus,  undertook  the  construction  of  the 
present  edifice  and  laid  the  foundations.  Upon 
these  foundations  Jacques  dAmboise,  abbot  of 
Cluny,  raised  the  present  building.  The  principal 
entrance  and  fa9ade  were  constructed  from  1485 
to  1514. 

The  approach  is  from  the  Rue  de  Sommerard, 
named  from  the  archaeologist  whose  collection  was 
the  nucleus  of  the  museum,  and  the  solid,  battle- 
mented  wall  is  pierced  by  a  gate,  surmounted  by 
the  arms  of  the  abbey  of   Cluny,  through  which 


Photo  A.  Otraudnn 


HOTEL    DE   CLUN'Y:      XVTH   CENTURY. 


Photo  A.  Oiraudon 


HOTEL   DE   Cr.UNY:     PETITE  PORTE   D'ENTRF.E. 


Pholo  A.  Giraudon 


Hotel  de  cluxy:    a  window. 


Photo  A.  Giraudon 


TOMB  OP  MAZARIN.     BY  COYZEVOX. 

MADE  FOR  THE  CHAPEL  OF  THE  INSTITUT  DE  FRANCE. 

KOVV   AT   THE   LOUVKE. 


FJlOtO   X 


TOMB   OF  RICHELIEU  :      SORBONXE 

BY   FRANC^OIS   GIRARDON,  AFTER   THE   DESIGN   OF  LE  BRUN. 


SCATTERED  TREASURES    525 

one  enters  upon  the  rich,  atmospheric  court  of 
honour.  The  corps  de  logis  presents  as  its  chief 
feature  the  many-sided  tower  which  encloses  the 
stairway,  and  bearing  the  rose-medallions  and 
cockle-shells  of  Saint  James,  in  allusion  to  the 
builder,  Jacques  d'Amboise.  Opposite  is  an  old 
well  from  the  manor  of  Tristan  I'Hermite,  near 
Amboise.  The  building  on  the  west  is  richly 
decorated. 

From  the  garden  the  bay-window  and  vaulted 
hall  called  la  chapelle  basse  are  the  features,  the 
upper  floor  being  supported  by  a  single  column. 
Upon  the  capital  of  this  column  are  the  arms 
of  Jacques  d'Amboise  and  a  crowned  K  (Karo- 
lus)  for  Charles  VIII. 

The  famous  bell  of  Rouen,  known  as  Georges 
d'Amboise,  is  said  to  have  been  cast  at  Cluny  and 
the  great  circle  traced  on  the  wall  of  the  east 
wing  is  supposed  to  mark  its  dimensions. 

The  interior  has  been  restored  by  means  of  con- 
temporary pieces  brought  here  from  other  build- 
ings. Thus  a  chimney-piece  dating  from  the  end 
of  the  XVth  century  comes  from  Le  Mans,  and 
the  beautiful  Francois  I  chamber  is  a  reconsti- 
tuted room  of  the  epoch  of  the  monarch. 

Between  Saint-Etienne  and  Cluny,  on  the 
northern    slope    of    Sainte-Genevieve's    mountain, 


526  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

on  the  outskirts  of  the  site  of  the  gardens  of 
Julian's  palace,  which  lay  along  the  Roman  road 
to  Orleans,  lies  the  Sorbonne,  the  development  of 
a  college  founded  in  1250,  by  Robert  de  Sor- 
bonne, a  canon  of  Notre-Dame,  under  the  protec- 
tion of  Saint-Louis.  Robert  de  Sorbonne  was 
the  king's  confessor  and  when  Saint-Louis  wanted 
to  found  a  nunnery  on  this  site  he  persuaded  him 
to  provide  instead  a  charity  college  for  theological 
students.  The  college  thus  founded  soon  became 
famous  and  the  assembly  of  doctors  of  the  Sor- 
bonne formed  a  formidable  tribunal,  which  judged 
without  appeal  theological  works  and  opinions 
and  even  passed  sentence  upon  popes  and  kings. 
The  title,  docteur  de  Sorbonne,  was  gained  only 
after  many  years  of  study  in  the  institution  fol- 
lowed by  ten  more  years  devoted  to  argument 
and  debate  and  the  preparation  and  defence  of 
various  theses,  distinguished  as  minor,  major, 
sahhatine,  tentative,  and  petite  and  grande  sor- 
bonique.  It  was  in  this  last  that  the  aspirant 
for  the  degree  was  required  to  sustain  and  refute 
the  attacks  of  twenty  assailants  or  ergoteurs  who, 
while  the  victim  was  forbidden  to  eat,  to  drink, 
or  to  leave  the  place,  worked  in  relays,  relieving 
each  other  every  half  hour,  and  harassed  him 
from  six  in  the  morning  to  seven  at  night. 


SCATTERED  TREASURES    527 

The  Sorbonne  as  it  stands  is  Richelieu's  great 
contribution  to  Paris.  He  was  elected  proviseur, 
or  head  master  of  the  institution,  in  1622,  and  his 
first  care  was  to  reconstruct  the  buildings  of  the 
college  and  to  build  the  chapel,  which,  finished  in 
1635,  was  practically  contemporary  with  the  old 
church  of  Saint  Paul  and  Saint  Louis,  in  the 
Marais.  Jacques  Lemercier  was  Richelieu's  archi- 
tect. We  have  seen  his  work  upon  the  Pavilion 
de  I'Horloge  of  the  Louvre,  and  he  designed 
Saint-Roch  and  the  Palais  Royal  and  worked 
upon  Val-de-Grace.  The  chapel  of  the  Sorbonne 
has  the  charm  of  complete  unity,  and  being  very 
small  its  view  is  well  compassed  by  the  width  of 
the  shady  jjlace  which  makes  the  effective  ap- 
proach, and  from  which  the  dome,  built  not  too 
far  from  the  fa9ade,  is  agreeably  dominant,  the 
whole  silhouette  of  the  building  flowing  grace- 
fully towards  its  elevation.  The  front  of  the 
transept,  towards  the  court,  is  even  better,  orna- 
mented with  a  portico  of  detached  columns  on 
the  lower  story  with  a  great  semi-circular  window 
above,  and  the  dome  rising  near  the  wall  with  full 
effect.  The  dome  and  portico  of  the  chajDcl  are 
placed  amongst  the  best  works  of  Lemercier. 

The  chapel  of  the  Sorbonne  was  destined  to 
become  the  tomb  of  its  illustrious  builder,  and  the 


528  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

chief  object  of  interest  in  the  now  denuded  in- 
terior is  the  sumptuous  mausoleum  in  marble 
erected  over  the  sepulchre  of  the  cardinal,  in  1694, 
by  rran9ois  Girardon,  after  the  design  of  Le- 
brun.  Richelieu  is  represented  reclining  in  the 
arms  of  Religion,  who  holds  the  book  he  wrote 
in  her  defence;  Science  weeps  at  his  feet.  The 
two  figures  are  said  to  be  portraits  of  the  nieces 
of  the  cardinal.  The  group  at  the  time  of  its 
execution  was  considered  the  greatest  of  funeral 
monuments — Louis  XIV  had  imposed  upon  his 
subjects  the  taste  of  Lebrun,  in  which  there  is 
always  something  of  the  pedant,  but  the  sculptor 
saves  the  day  by  his  thoroughly  capable  render- 
ing, his  suave  fluency  of  line  and  sympathetic 
draperies.  The  monument  is  too  sophisticated  to 
hold  the  interest  long,  but  at  the  same  time  its 
very  faults,  concealed  as  they  are  by  the  smooth- 
ness of  its  technique,  seem  expressive  of  the  sub- 
ject. The  tomb  is  a  type  of  its  kind,  and  has 
also  historic  value  as  having  been  that  for  whose 
preservation  Alexandre  Lenoir  was  prepared  to 
shed  his  blood. 

Richelieu  died  in  1642;  a  few  months  earlier 
Marie  de  Medicis  had  been  taken  from  the  scene 
and  Louis  XIII  survived  merely  long  enough  to 
carry   out   the    instructions    of   his    tutor    and   to 


SCATTERED  TREASURES    529 

establish  Mazarin  as  prime  minister.  The  palace 
.  which  Richelieu  had  built  for  his  residence  after 
his  grandeur  had  outgrown  the  "  little  Luxem- 
bourg "  which  Marie  de  Medicis  had  allotted  him, 
the  dying  minister  presented  to  the  king.  Thus 
the  Palais  Cardinal  became  the  Palais  Royal  when 
Anne  d'Autriche,  finding  herself  a  widow  with 
two  young  children,  adopted  it  as  her  residence 
during  the   long  term   of  her  regency. 

We  have  said  that  the  dome  of  the  church  of 
Saint  Paul  and  Saint  Louis,  in  the  JNIarais,  was 
one  of  the  first  erected  in  Paris;  but  now  the 
taste  was  all  for  domes,  inspired  no  doubt  by  the 
world-wide  admiration  of  the  great  Saint  Peter's, 
and  Paris  soon  made  a  brave  showing  with  the 
domes  of  the  Sorbonne,  Val-de-Grace,  the  Insti- 
tut,  and  the  Invalides,  each  one  more  beautiful 
than  the  last,  and  all  designed  within  the  last  half 
of  the  XVI Ith  century. 

We  know  that  Louis  XIII  lived  practically  a 
celibate,  so  that  a  direct  heir  to  the  throne  had 
been  despaired  of  when,  after  twenty-two  years 
of  marriage,  Anne  d'Autriche  gave  birth  to  two 
sons,  Louis,  surnamed  Dieu-Donne,  and  Philippe 
de  France.  It  was  in  gratitude  for  the  birth  of 
Louis  that  the  queen  built  the  abbey  and  church 
of  Yal-de-Grace.     Louis  XIV  placed  the  corner- 


530  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

stone  of  the  church  for  his  mother  in  1645,  when 
he  was  a  child  of  seven  years.  Fran9ois  Mansart 
made  the  plans  and  began  the  work;  Jacques 
Lemercier  continued  it  to  the  great  cornice,  and 
Pierre  Lemuet,  seconded  by  Gabriel  Leduc  and 
Duval  terminated  the  arches,  the  belfry,  and  the 
dome,  in  1665. 

Val-de-Grace  makes  the  imposing  vista  through 
tlie  street  of  that  name  into  which  one  must  re- 
treat a  little  to  appreciate  the  value  of  the  elegant 
dome.  Through  the  narrow  Rue  Saint-Jacques 
one  comes  upon  it  suddenly,  standing  within  its 
grand  court,  closed  by  a  handsome  grill. 

All  the  decorations  of  the  monument  concern 
the  birth  of  Christ  by  allusion  to  that  of  Louis 
XIV.  The  facade  is  inscribed:  Jesu  nascenti 
Virginique  Matri;  the  words,  in  gold,  are  lettered 
across  the  roof  of  the  portico  under  which  one 
enters  the  temple.  The  interior  is  dominated  by 
the  vast  dome  or  cupola;  a  brief  nave  serves  as 
a  mere  preface  to  the  sanctuary  to  which  one 
mounts  by  a  flight  of  steps  and  which  is  closed 
off  by  a  magnificent  grill.  The  cupola  is  one 
immense  fresco,  by  Mignard,  a  remarkable  com- 
position of  two  hundred  figures,  in  which  Anne 
d'Autriche  makes  the  centre  of  interest  and,  as- 
sisted by   Saint-Louis,   offers   to   the   Trinity  the: 


SCATTERED  TREASURES    531 

model  of  the  church,  in  the  presence  of  all  Cath- 
olic Christendom. 

The  vaulting  of  the  nave,  its  lateral  arches,  the 
pendentives  of  the  dome  are  elaborated  by  figures 
sculptured  by  Michel  Anguier,  and  under  the 
baldaquin  belongs  the  celebrated  group  La 
Creche,  by  Anguier,  now  at  Saint-Roch.  This 
sumptuous  interior  with  its  mosaics,  its  coffered 
roof,  its  marble  pavings,  the  great  grill  before 
the  choir,  the  bronze  baldaquin,  the  imposing 
high  altar — inspired  by  that  of  Saint-Peter's— 
is  truly  symbolic  of  its  destiny,  a  fitting  monu- 
ment to  the  birth  of  that  monarch  whose  reign 
saw  the  apogee  of  Ja  grandeur  franfaise. 

The  abbey,  now  a  military  hospital,  preserves 
none  the  less  traces  of  its  pristine  magnificence. 
Its  cloisters,  its  galleries,  its  great  stairways  still 
exist,  and  the  rooms  of  Anne  d'Autriche,  through 
which  Louis  XIII  and  Richelieu  searched  for  evi- 
dence of  her  intrigue,  are  still  there. 

Opposite  the  hospital,  the  rue  Val-de-Grace 
leads  through  to  the  tip  of  the  Allee  de  I'Observa- 
toire,  back  to  the  site  of  the  old  Chateau  Vauvert, 
and  to  the  handsome  Fontaine  de  I'Observatoire, 
erected  in  1874.  The  most  celebrated  work  of 
the  sculptor,  Jean  Baptiste  Carpeaux,  the  foun- 
tain is  one  of  the  most  distinguished  works  of  the 


532  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

last  century.  Uj)on  a  pedestal  in  the  centre  of 
the  great  basin  four  allegorical  figures  of  the 
quarters  of  the  globe  bear  aloft  an  armillary 
sphere,  belted  with  the  signs  of  the  zodiac.  This 
group  is  by  Carpeaux.  In  the  basin  are  eight 
sea-horses  by  Fremiet,  and  between  them  dol- 
phins and  tortoises  spout  abundant  jets  of  water 
upon  the  horses  and  the  group.  The  fountain  in 
action,  especially  when  the  spray  is  caught  by  the 
wind,  is  an  exhilarating  sight. 

This  locality  is  further  enriched  by  Rude's  great 
statue  of  marechal  Ney,  which,  placed  amongst 
the  trees  at  the  convocation  of  several  streets  be- 
fore the  cafe,  Closerie  des  Lilas,  marks  the  spot 
where,  on  the  21st  of  November,  1815,  '' le  brave 
des  braves/'  as  Napoleon  called  him,  was  shot 
for  high  treason  by  order  of  Louis  XVIII.  Ney 
deserted  with  his  army  and  joined  Napoleon 
after  his  escape  from  Elba. 

From  the  Sorbonne  and  Val-de-Grace  we  pass 
easily  to  the  Institut,  whose  dome  is  a  feature  of 
many  characteristic  views  of  Paris.  It  marks 
Mazarin's  foundation  and  sepulchre.  He  left  a 
fortune  to  found  a  college  here  and  was  buried 
in  the  chapel.  His  tomb,  a  great  work  by 
Coyzevox,  is  now  in  the  Louvre. 

Attached  to   the   older  church   of   Saint-Louis- 


piiutij  /;.  I'lotf III 


VALUE-GRACE. 


Photo  A.  Oiiaudon 


MARECHAL    NEY. 

BY   RUDE. 

CARKEFOUB   DE    L'oBSEBVATOIRE. 


SCATTERED  TREASURES    535 

des-Invalides,  as  an  admirable  afterthought,  is 
the  gilded  dome,  the  most  beautiful  of  the  domes 
of  Paris.  It  holds  for  us  the  added  significance 
of  marking  the  sej^ulchre  of  Napoleon,  but  dat- 
ing from  Louis  XIV  it  shows  in  its  relation  to 
the  large  ensemble  of  the  Hotel  des  Invalides,  a 
new  development  of  Paris,  which  from  this  time 
began  to  be  laid  out  on  a  grander  and  more  com- 
prehensive scale.  Louis  XIV  extended  Paris  in 
all  directions.  The  Places  du  Carrousel,  Ven- 
dome,  and  des  Victoires  made  centres  which  con- 
tributed to  the  elegance  and  splendour  of  the 
city;  the  Champs  Elysees  were  planted,  laid  out 
with  walks,  and  transformed  into  a  superb  public 
garden;  great  improvements  were  made  on  the 
river  by  the  formation  of  new  quays  and  the 
building  of  stone  bridges.  Louis  XIV  thought 
that  ramparts  were  unnecessary  to  the  capital  of 
a  great  empire  and  that  Paris  should  have  for 
gates  triumphal  arches.  He  tore  down  the  an- 
cient fortifications  of  Charles  V  and  laid  out  in 
their  place  the  present  grands  boulevards,  along 
which  rows  of  trees  made  a  pacific  wall.  The  old 
Portes  Saint-Denis  and  Saint-Martin  were  built 
to  commemorate  the  king's  victories  in  Germanj'^ 
and  the  capture  of  Besan^on. 

Amongst  these   activities  of  the   roi-soleil  was 


536  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

the  erection  of  the  old  soldiers'  home — ^the  Hotel 
des  Invalides.  Henri  IV  had  wished  to  provide 
a  refuge  for  the  numerous  army  veterans,  who, 
old,  impoverished,  mutilated,  were  forced  to  beg 
their  bread  in  the  streets.  Louis  XIV  devoted 
himself  with  zest  to  carrying  out  the  enterprise  of 
his  grandfather  and  built  the  magnificent  Hotel 
des  Invalides  at  the  western  extremity  of  the 
faubourg  Saint-Germain.  Liberal  Bruant  was 
the  architect.     It  was  finished  in  1674. 

Thirty  years  later  the  church,  begun  by  Bru- 
ant and  finished  by  Mansart,  was  achieved.  The 
church  was  to  serve  the  occupants  of  the  hotel 
and  was  approached  therefore  through  the  vast 
courtyard,  behind  the  facade  of  the  institution, 
surrounded  by  open  corridors.  But  the  king  re- 
quired a  chapel  and  this  was  the  motive  of  the 
construction  of  the  great  dome  which  makes  the 
crowning  feature  of  the  church  and  the  pivot  of 
those  handsome  avenues  which  approach  it  from 
the  Place  Vauban.  The  king  arrived  from  this 
side  with  more  pomp,  descending  from  his  car- 
riage at  the  steps  of  the  dome,  whose  door  opened 
but  for  him. 

Bruant  died  before  finishing  the  edifice  and  the 
royal   chapel  was   completed   by   Jules-Hardouin 


SCATTERED  TREASURES    537 

Mansart,  a  nephew  of  the  designer  of  Val-de- 
Grace.  We  enter,  as  did  Louis,  by  the  south  end 
of  the  church,  through  a  great  gilded  door,  sur- 
mounted by  two  angels  who  hold  the  arms  of 
France.  A  grill  separates  the  church  from  the 
dome,  making  what  seems  at  first  glance  to  be 
a  separate  edifice,  whose  great  point  now  is  the 
tomb  of  Napoleon,  lowered  into  the  circular,  oj^en 
crypt,  under  the  dome.  The  form  of  the  chapel 
is  that  of  a  Greek  cross.  The  tombs  of  Turenne 
and  Vauban,  two  marshals  of  France,  under 
Louis  XIV,  occupy  the  east  and  west  branches 
of  the  cross.  We  know  that  Napoleon  himself 
gave  Turenne  this  sepulchre  after  the  desecrations 
at  Saint-Denis. 

Four  smaller  cupolas  encircle  the  great  dome, 
and  in  the  chapel  to  the  left  of  the  entrance  the 
remains  of  Napoleon  were  deposited  before  the 
ceremony  of  the  great  interment.  These  four 
corner  chapels  are  richly  decorated  to  harmonize 
with  the  magnificence  of  the  dome  and  are  orna- 
mented  with  statues  and  reliefs  by  the  ablest 
sculptors  of  their  century.  Espignole,  Coustou, 
Adam,  and  Coyzevox  enriched  the  parts  under 
the  arches,  Girardon  directed  the  composition. 
The  cupola  was  painted  by  Lafosse  and  Jouvenet, 


538  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Through  the  grill  are  seen  the  standards  cap- 
tured hy  the  French  armies  arranged  along  the 
cornices  of  the  nave. 

Leaning  over  the  white  marble  balustrade,  which 
surrounds  the  circular  opening,  we  see  in  the 
centre  of  the  crypt  the  rich  sarcophagus  of  Si- 
berian porphyry  which  contains  the  remains  of  . 
the  first  emperor,  brought  back  from  Saint  He- 
lena, by  Joinville,  in  1840.  The  tomb  is  the 
design  of  Visconti,  the  younger,  accepted  from  a 
concours  of  eighty-one  projects  exposed  at  the 
Beaux-Arts,  in  1841.  The  entrance  to  the  crypt, 
at  the  back  of  the  high  altar,  is  guarded  night  and 
day  by  an  old  soldier  from  the  Invalides,  and 
abov^e  the  doorway  is  inscribed  Napoleon's  wish: 
"  Je  desire  que  mes  cendres  reposent  sur  les 
hords  de  la  Seine,  au  milieu  de  ce  peuple  frangais 
que  j'ai  taut  amie." 


CHAPTER  XXIV 
ET  PUIS  APRES? 

With  Louis  XIV  came  the  zenith  of  the  mon- 
archy, and  the  great,  spectacular  Paris  of  to-day, 
the  Paris  of  the  boulevards  and  of  the  Champs 
Elysees,  was  born  of  his  pride,  his  ambition,  and 
his  power.  Louis  XIV  gave  the  note  of  the 
modern  city,  no  longer  confined  within  mediteval 
walls,  but  stretching  out  in  all  directions  and 
assuming  the  aspect  and  proportions  of  a  me- 
tropolis. 

As  he  planned  and  conceived,  so  his  successors, 
Louis  XV,  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  Louis-Philippe, 
and  Napoleon  III,  developed  upon  an  always 
increasing  scale  of  magnificence.  Louis  XV  cre- 
ated out  of  the  desolation  of  the  fields  beyond 
the  Tuileries  the  superb  Place  de  la  Concorde, 
which,  forming  a  point  of  arrival  for  the  descent 
of  the  Champs  Elysees,  made  the  link  between 
this  triumphal  avenue  and  the  garden  of  the 
palace,  which  had  been  done  over  by  Lenotre, 
and  became  the  centre  of  the  westward  moving 
city. 

539 


540  A  LOITEREK  IN  PARIS 

The  PLice  de  la  Concorde  was  made  the  vast 
axis  of  a  group  of  related  buildings  which  it  tied 
together  in  a  common  design.  Gabriel  was  the 
architect  and  he  built  the  handsome  Ministere  de  la 
Marine  and  the  Hotel  Crillon,  separated  from 
each  other  by  the  Rue  Roy  ale,  for  the  reception  of 
ambassadors  and  other  distinguished  personages. 
The  Palais  Bourbon,  built  for  a  daughter  of 
Louis  XIV  and  Madame  de  Maintenon,  across  the 
Seine,  balanced  the  Madeleine,  begun  by  Louis 
XV  as  a  church  and  carried  out  under  Napoleon 
as  a  temple  of  victory,  in  honour  of  the  soldiers 
of  the  Grand  Army. 

The  Place  Louis  XV,  as  the  Concorde  was 
first  called,  commemorated  the  Peace  of  Aix-la- 
Chapelle,  and  the  king  "  gratified  "  his  subjects 
by  permitting  an  equestrian  statue  of  himself,  in 
bronze,  to  ornament  the  centre,  where  now  stands 
the  obelisk.  Bouchardon  and  Pigalle  executed 
the  statue  of  the  king,  a  figure  crowned  with 
laurel,  dressed  in  the  Roman  style  and  mounted 
upon  a  charger,  supported  by  four  virtues.  This 
statue,  when  first  erected,  drew  forth  many  clever 
sayings  from  the  wits  of  the  capital,  in  allusion 
both  to  the  disposition  and  the  execution  of  the 
figures,  of  which  those  forming  the  pedestal  were 


ET  PUISAPRES?  541 

very  inferior  to  that  of  the  king.     One  of  these 
pasquinades  ran: 

"  O  la  belle  statue!    O  le  beau  piedestal! 
Les  Vertm  sont  a  pied,  le  Vice  est  a  cheval." 

The  Phice  de  la  Concorde  was  from  the  first 
marked  for  tragic  history,  and  before  it  was  quite 
finished  was  the  scene  of  a  terrible  catastrophe 
following  the  festivities  attendant  upon  the  mar- 
riage of  the  dauphin  of  France  with  the  beautiful 
Marie-Antoinette,  which  was  celebrated  at  Ver- 
sailles, on  the  16th  of  May,  1770.  On  the  30th 
day  of  the  month  the  various  spectacles,  held  in 
honour  of  the  nuptials,  terminated  by  a  mag- 
nificent display  of  fireworks  in  the  Place  Louis  XV 
attracting  a  multitude  that  filled  to  overflowing  the 
whole  of  that  capacious  square.  It  was  in  leav- 
ing the  place  that  the  newly  opened  Rue  Royale 
became  choked  with  the  populace  and  in  the  panic 
that  ensued  many  people  were  crushed  to  death, 
while  others,  stumbhng  over  the  pitfalls  created 
by  the  unfinished  building  to  the  two  sides  of  the 
opening,  were  thrown  into  the  freshly  dug  founda- 
tions and  killed. 

It  was  in  the  Place  Louis  XV  that  the  Revolu- 


542  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

tion  may  be  said  to  have  broken  out  and  here  was 
shed  the  first  blood  in  that  terrible  convulsion. 
Here  was  also  the  principal  place  of  execution. 
The  first  victim  who  perished  in  this  ijlace  was 
the  king  himself.  The  fountain,  dedicated  to  the 
sea  (on  the  south  side),  marks  the  exact  spot 
where  Louis  XVI  died,  January  21,  1793,  one  of 
twenty-eight  hundred  people  who  were  beheaded 
in  this  place. 

The  fountains  and  the  eight  allegorical  statues 
of  the  great  provincial  cities  of  France  date  from 
the  second  empire;  the  groups  of  sculpture,  known 
as  Les  Chevauoc  de  Marly,  by  Guillaume  Coustou, 
which  flank  the  entrance  to  the  Champs  Elysees, 
date  from  Louis  XIV. 

The  Champs  Elysees  is  now  the  magnificent, 
modern  entrance  to  the  city.  Napoleon  improved 
it  for  the  victorious  entry  of  his  army  and  planned 
the  Triumphal  Arch  of  the  Etoile,  one  of  four 
which  he  intended  to  erect  in  commemoration  of 
his  victories.  It  was  begun  in  1806,  from  the 
designs  of  Chalgrin,  but  not  finished  until  1836, 
when  both  architect  and  founder  were  no  more. 
It  is  clearly  less  choice  than  the  little  Arc  de 
Triomphe  du  Carrousel,  which  we  have  classed 
amongst  the  jewels  of  Paris,  but  it  rejoices  in  one 
fine   example  of   sculpture  by  the  great  Rude — ■ 


I'liutu  A.  (Jriraudon 


LA  DANSE. 

BY  CARPEAUX. 

FAgADE  OF  THE  OPERA. 


I'ltoto  .1.   Oiraudon 


LE   DKPAKT. 
HY    RUDE. 
ARC    1)U    TRIOMPHE    1)E    I/eTOILE. 


ET  PUIS  APRES?  545 

a  high  rehef  of  the  Genius  of  War  summoning 
the  Nation  to  Arms,  placed  against  the  right  hand 
pier  of  the  arch,  facing  down  the  avenue. 

Straight  down  the  Champs  Ely  sees,  across  the 
Concorde,  through  the  garden  of  the  Tuileries, 
under  the  Arc  du  Carrousel,  the  whole  immense 
composition  has  been  considered  with  the  vast 
palace  of  the  Louvre  as  its  base.  The  last  object 
in  the  line  of  this  magnificent  vista  is  Paul  Bart- 
lett's  equestrian  statue  of  Lafayette,  conceived  as 
a  youth  setting  forth  upon  his  romantic  adventure 
in  aid  of  American  independence.  The  statue  is 
the  gift  of  young  Americans  to  Paris  and  ranks 
not  only  as  the  masterpiece  of  the  American 
sculptor,  but  as  one  of  the  great  equestrians  of 
the  world. 

The  arcades  of  the  Rue  de  Rivoli  are  Napo- 
leon's contribution  to  this  part  of  Paris,  built  as 
a  souvenir  of  his  native  streets.  The  emperor 
continued  them  through  the  Rue  Castiglione  which 
leads  to  the  Place  Vendome  and  to  the  column 
erected  by  Napoleon  in  imitation  of  the  Trajan, 
at  Rome,  and  covered  with  reliefs  of  his  victories 
in  Germany,  from  designs  by  Bergeret,  cast  from 
Austrian  cannon.  A  bronze  statue  of  Louis  XIV, 
by  Girardon,  at  first  ornamented  the  centre  of 
this  space. 


5m  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

Napoleon  had  a  fancy  for  planting  memorials 
of  himself  in  historic  places  associated  with  other 
powerful  monarchs.  Both  this  statue  of  Louis 
XIV  and  the  famous  Henri  IV,  on  the  Pont- 
Neuf,  had  been  demolished  during  the  Revolution, 
and  Napoleon  had  a  statue  of  himself,  by  Chaudet, 
placed  upon  the  top  of  the  Colonne  Vendome, 
and  planned  an  obelisk,  inscribed  with  his  name, 
to  replace  the  Henri  IV  statue.  Louis  XVIII, 
on  ascending  the  throne,  took  from  the  Place 
Vendome  the  bronze  statue  of  the  emperor  and 
adding  it  to  another  had  both  melted  into  the 
present  statue  of  his  ancestor  Henri  IV.  Fran- 
cois Frederic-Lemot,  of  Lyon,  is  the  sculptor  of 
the  monument  to  the  hero  of  Ivry. 

A  second  statue  of  Napoleon,  by  Seurre,  made 
from  cannon  taken  in  Algiers,  was  magnanimously 
erected  by  Louis-Philippe  in  1833,  only  to  be 
replaced  in  1863,  by  a  copy  of  the  first  statue,  by 
Chaudet.  On  May  16,  1871,  on  the  motion  of 
the  painter,  Courbet,  the  Communards  threw 
down  the  entire  column.  It  was  rebuilt  from  the 
fragments  in  1874. 

Under  Napoleon  III  Paris  underwent  a  still 
more  drastic  transformation  owing  to  the  enter- 
prise of  Georges  Eugene  Haussmann,  prefect  of 
the    Seine,    who    cut    broad    avenues    ruthlessly 


PJwto  X 


LE   PENSEUR. 
BY   RODIN. 
PANTHEON. 


LAFAYETTE. 

BY   PAUL   W.   BARTLETT. 


ET  PUIS  APRES?  549 

through  dense  masses  of  houses  to  the  destruction 
of  numberless  tortuous  streets.  To  this  era  be- 
long the  great  principal  arteries  of  traffic  running 
north  and  south — the  Boulevards  de  Strasbourg 
and  de  Sebastopol,  the  Boulevards  du  Palais  and 
Saint-Michel,  the  Boulevards  Haussmann  and  de 
Magenta,  the  Boulevards  Saint- Germain  and  du 
Montparnasse,  the  Rue  de  Rennes,  and  the  pro- 
longations of  the  Rues  de  Rivoli,  de  Turbigo,  and 
Lafayette. 

The  Bois  de  Boulogne,  the  Bois  de  Vincennes, 
the  Pare  Monceau,  the  Buttes-Chaumont,  and  other 
squares  and  gardens  were  the  outgrowth  of  this 
later  development.  The  Opera  and  the  Hotel  de 
Ville  are  the  two  giant  efforts  amongst  the  pro- 
digious building  of  this  period. 

The  Opera,  designed  by  Garnier,  derives  its 
chief  distinction  as  a  background  for  Carpeaux' 
famous  group.  La  Danse,  which  ornaments  the 
right  side  of  the  principal  facade.  The  Hotel  de 
Ville  is  famous  for  its  wealth  of  modern  decora- 
tion, done  by  all  the  great  French  painters  of  the 
last  generation. 

Finally  the  several  great  expositions  added  to 
Paris  such  spectacular  notes  as  the  Trocadero, 
the  Grand  Palais,  the  Petit  Palais,  the  Pont 
Alexandre  III,  which  ties  into  a  greater  scheme 


550  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

of  composition  the  esplanade,  the  hotel,  and  the 
dome  of  the  Invalides, 

Such  was  the  development  of  Paris  up  to  the 
outbreak  of  the  great  European  war,  which  in 
time  to  come  will  surely  mark  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  the  city.  Even  now  the  fortifications, 
which  date  only  from  the  last  revolution,  are  being 
demolished,  not  only  to  admit  of  further  expan- 
sion but  because  they  offer  no  defence  against 
modern  warfare.  The  little  pleasure  boats,  which 
used  to  make  travelling  so  agreeable  up  and  down 
the  winding  river,  having  been  requisitioned  dur- 
ing the  war,  are  now  condemned.  When  they  are 
replaced,  if  ever  they  are  replaced,  it  will  be  by 
some  modern  speed  ship  which  will  bear  about  as 
much  resemblance  to  the  flotilla  of  happy  memory 
as  does  the  vapore  of  the  Grand  Canal  to  the 
languorous  gondola.  Already  their  absence 
makes  the  Seine  a  more  serious  river. 

But  the  Seine  itself  lives  in  constant  menace 
of  dredging,  widening,  and  straightening  by  a 
canal  from  Rouen,  which  will  make  of  Paris  a 
port,  and  the  river  no  place  at  all  for  loitering. 
What  will  do  then,  poor  things,  the  fishermen  of 
the  Seine,  that  contemplative  society  of  Izaak 
Waltons,  who  pass  their  lives  in  dreamy  pursuit 
of  the  non-existent  poisson?     And  what,  in  win- 


ET  PUIS  APRES?  551 

ter,  will  do  the  daily  papers,  when,  its  flux  for- 
ever calmed,  the  river  will  flow  .'^agely  between 
its  banks,  and  the  crue  de  la  Seine  will  no  longer 
fill  in  the  dull  moments  of  journalism? 

We  who  have  weathered  the  war  and  its  after- 
math  have  assisted  at  the  birth  of  a  new  Paris. 
Let  this  book  stand  as  a  tribute  to  the  old. 


A  SCHEDULE  FOR  TWO  WEEKS  IN 

PARIS 

Ut  day.  He  de  la  Cite,  a  ramble  to  discover 
Lutetia,  the  village  which  Julius  Ceesar  found 
upon  his  conquest  of  Gaul.  Notre-Dame  (on  the 
site  of  a  temple  to  Jupiter).  Palais  de  Justice 
(on  the  site  of  the  old  Roman  palace) .  The  Sainte- 
Chapelle.  The  Pont-Neuf.  Statue  of  Henri  IV. 
Madame  Roland's  house  and  the  Place  Dauphine. 

2nd  day.  The  Arenes  de  Lutece,  an  amphi- 
theatre built  in  the  time  of  the  Ceesars.  The  site 
of  the  Palais  des  Thermes,  built  in  the  IVth  cen- 
tury and  marked  by  the  remains  of  the  great 
Frigidarium  of  the  ancient  palace. 

Musee  de  Cluny,  the  hotel  a  fine  example  of 
XVth  century  civil  architectiu'e,  and  the  museum, 
rich  in  historic  collections  dating  back  to  Roman 
times. 

Sainte-Genevieve,  the  patron  saint  of  Paris:  a 
ramble  over  the  "^  montaigne  Sainte-Genevieve " 
— the  tower  of  the  ancient  basilica  of  Sainte- 
Genevieve,  founded  by  Clovis,  the  first  king  of 
Paris.     Sainte-Etienne  du  Mont,  an  early  Renais- 

552 


TWO  WEEKS  IN  PARIS  553 

sance  church  containing  the  shrine  of  Sainte- 
Genevieve — the  Pantheon  built  originally  as  a 
temple  to  the  saint — decorations  within  concerning 
her  life,  by  Puvis  de  Chavannes. 

3rd  day.  Saint-Germain-des-Pres,  an  ancient 
church,  built  upon  the  site  of  a  temple  to  Isis, 
centre  of  an  immense  abbey  which  formerly  dom- 
inated this  region,  founded  by  Childebert,  and 
long  the  sepulchre  of  the  kings  of  the  first  race. 
Behind  the  church  still  stands  the  abbatial  palace. 
This  powerful  abbey  established  the  prestige  of 
the  quarter  known  as  the  faubourg  Saint- 
Germain. 

Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre,  an  ancient  church  con- 
temporary with  Notre-Dame;  Saint-Severin,  a 
Gothic  church  in  excellent  preservation.  Saint- 
ISIartin-des-Champs  (refectory  and  church)  now 
part  of  the  Conservatoire  des  Arts  et  INIetiers. 

4th  day.  Montmartre,  the  mountain  of  the 
martyrs,  where  was  beheaded  Saint-Denis,  the 
first  bishop  of  Paris,  he  who  introduced  Chris- 
tianity into  Gaul.  Saint-Pierre-de-]Montmartre, 
an  ancient  church  on  the  site  of  a  temple  to  Mer- 
cury and  a  INIerovingien  church,  of  both  of  which 
there  are  traces.  The  basilica  of  the  Sacre  Coeur, 
built  by  the  Parisians  in  atonement  for  the  crimes 
of  1871. 


554  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

From  Montmartre,  according  to  the  legend, 
Saint-Denis  walked  north,  carrying  his  head  in  his 
hands,  to  the  site  of  the  town  of  Saint-Denis,  where 
he  was  interred,  with  his  companions,  Rustique  and 
Eleuthere. 

Saint-Denis,  the  cathedral,  built  by  DagoDert 
as  a  memorial  to  the  martyrs:  interesting  for  its 
architecture,  the  point  of  arrival  of  Gothic,  and 
famous  as  the  sepulchre  of  the  kings  of  France. 

N.B.  The  tombs  are  shown  by  a  guide  after- 
noons only.  Visitors  armed  with  a  "  permission," 
granted  by  the  Ministry  of  Beaux-Arts,  (3  rue  de 
Yalois),  may  visit  the  tombs  at  leisure,  unaccom- 
panied, in  the  mornings. 

5th  day.  Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois,  a  Gothic 
church  founded  by  Childebert,  long  the  royal 
church;  from  the  belfry  of  the  old  square  tower 
was  rung  the  signal  for  the  massacre  of  Saint 
Bartholomew. 

The  Louvre  of  Francois  I  and  Henri  II,  with 
facade  by  Lescot  and  Goujon,  in  the  southwest 
corner  of  the  court;  enter  by  the  Pavilion  de 
I'Horloge.  Salle  des  Cariatides,  old  apartments 
of  Catherine  de  Medicis.  Charles  IX  window 
from  which  (it  is  said)  he  fired  upon  the 
Huguenots.  Rooms  of  French  jDrimitive  and 
Renaissance  sculpture. 


TWO  WEEKS  IN  PARIS  555 

The  Fountain  of  the  Innocents. 

Gtli  day.  Fontainebleau,  to  imbibe  the  spirit  of 
the  Renaissance  and  rran9ois  I. 

7th  day.  The  Louvre  of  Catherine  de  Medicis 
and  Henri  IV.  From  the  quay  the  rich  fa9ade 
of  the  Galerie  du  Bord  de  VEau,  begun  by  Cath- 
erine de  Medicis  and  completed  by  Henri  IV,  the 
so-called  Charles  IX  balcony  and  the  Porte  Jean 
Goujon. 

Within:  Galerie  d'Ajjollon,  first  built  by  Henri 
IV,  connects  the  old  Louvre  with  the  long  gal- 
lery, built  by  Catherine  de  JNIedicis.  Room  of 
French  primitives  containing  portraits  of  this 
epoch  and  earlier. 

The  Tuileries  Garden — fragments  of  the  palace 
(burned  in  the  Commune).  Astronomical  tower 
at  the  Bourse  de  Commerce,  a  remnant  of  the 
Hotel  de  Soissons,  built  by  Catherine  de  Medicis. 
Saint-Eustache.     Tomb  of  Colbert. 

8  th  day.     Chant  illy. 

9th  day.  The  Marais.  Exterior  of  the  Hotel 
de  Ville.  Ramble  down  the  Rue  de  FHotel  de 
Ville.  Hotel  de  Sens  (XVth  century).  Place 
des  Vosges.  Hotel  Sully.  Hotel  Barbette.  Hotel 
Carnavalet  and  its  famous  historical  museum. 
Locality  of  the  Temple. 

10th  day.     Tom-  Saint- Jacques.     Tour  de  Jean 


556  A  LOITERER  IN  PARIS 

sans  Peur.  Hotel  de  Soubise.  Archives  Na- 
tionale. 

Saint-Germain-en-Laye.  Pavilion  Henri  IV, 
museum  of  national  antiquities,  and  forest  of 
Saint-Germain.     Sunset  from  the  Terrace. 

11th  day.  Louvre;  the  Rubens  Gallery  of  al- 
legorical subjects  drawn  from  the  life  of  Marie 
de  Medicis  and  painted  for  her  dowager  palace, 
the  Luxembourg. 

The  Luxembourg  Palace  (now  the  Senate). 
The  Petit  Luxembourg.  The  Luxembourg  Mu- 
seum of  modern  paintings.  The  Luxembourg 
Garden.  Medicis  Fountain  and  Carpeaux  Foun- 
tain. 

12th  day.  Richelieu  and  Louis  XIII.  The 
Sorbonne.  Richelieu's  tomb  in  the  chapel.  The 
Palais  Royal,  Richelieu's  residence.  Church  of 
Saint  Paul  and  Saint  Louis  in  the  Marais,  built 
by  Louis  XIII  and  Richelieu.  The  Louvre  of 
this  epoch— Pavilion  de  I'Horloge  and  north  wing 
of  the  court.  Sculpture  and  painting — Mazarin's 
tomb  (from  the  Institut).  The  Institut  de 
France. 

Val-de-Grace,  built  by  Anne  d'Autriche  in 
gratitude  for  the  birth  of  Louis  XIV. 

loth  day.  The  Invalides,  built  by  Louis  XIV  as 
a  home  for  old  soldiers — the  museum  of  artillery, 


TWO  WEEKS  IN  PARIS  557 

the  church,  and  the  dome.  Napoleon's  tomb. 
Rodin  iNIusemii.     The  choir  of  Notre-Dame. 

Versailles. 

14tli  day.  Trocadero,  conceived  by  Napoleon 
as  a  palace  for  the  roi  de  Borne,  achieved  by  a 
great  Paris  Exposition.  ^luseum  of  casts  of 
French  monumental  sculpture.  A  glimpse  of 
modern  Paris — the  Arc  de  Triomphe  de  I'Etoile, 
Napoleon's  conception  for  the  entry  of  victorious 
armies. 

Modern  painting  at  the  Petit  Palais  and  the 
Hotel  de  Ville. 

Malmaison. 


SCHEDULE  FOR  ONE  WEEK  IN  PARIS 

1st  day:  A.M.     Notre-Dame — Sainte-Chapelle 

—  Saint- Julien-le-Pauvre  —  Saint-Severin  —  Pont- 

Neuf. 

P.M.     Saint-Germain-en-Laye. 

2nd  day:  A.M.  Saint-Etienne-du-Mont — Pan- 
theon— Sorbonne — Cluny  Museum  and  Salle  des 
Thermes — Saint-Germain-des-Pres. 

P.M.     Saint-Cloud. 

3rd  day:  A.M.  Louvre  —  sculpture  rooms. 
Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois. 

P.M.     Versailles. 

4th  day:  A.M.  Musee  Carnavalet — Place  des 
Vosges — Hotel  de  Sens. 

P.M.  Luxembourg  Gardens,  palace,  and  mu- 
seum. 

5tli  day:  A.M.  Louvre,  paintings.  Tuileries 
Garden. 

P.M.     Saint-Denis. 

Gth  day :  A  .31.  Napoleon's  tomb— the  Invalides 
— Rodin  IMuseum. 

P.M.     Malmaison. 

7th  day:  Trocadero  Museum. 

P.3I.     Montmartre. 

558 


INDEX 


Abbate,  Nicola  del,  432 
Abbaye  de  Montinartre,  35(3 
Abbaye  de  Port  Hoyal,  517 
Abbaye  de  Koyaumont,  31G 
Abbaye  Hautes  Bruyeres,  335, 

344 
Abbaye  Saint-Denis,  abbots  of, 

284 
Abbaye   Sainte-Genevieve,  172, 

316,  325 
Abbaye     Saint  -  Germain  -  des  - 

Pres,  191 
royal     sepulchre     under     the 

Merovingiens,  its  abbots 
Abbaye    Saint-Maur-les-Fosses, 

95 
Abbaye  Saint- Victor,  92,  106 
Abbaye       Saint  -  Vincent       et 

Sainte-Croix,     see     Saint- 

Gennain-des-Pres,  185 
Abbaye,  Val-de-Grace,  529,  531 
Act  of  Restitution,  445 
Adam,  537 

Adelaide  de  France,  353 
Agincourt,  Battle  of,  339 
Aiguillon,  ducbesse  d',  405 
Alix  de  Savoie,  253 
A  he  Pinalotbek  at  Munich,  497 
Amboise,  cardinal  d',  340 
Angp,  Marcel,  470 
Anguier,  Michel,  338,  423,  531 
Anjou,  due  d',  455 
Anne  d'Autriche,  256,  401,  406, 

423,  468,  529,  531 
Anne  de  Bourgogne,  tomb,  454 
Anne  de  Bretagne,  365,371,372 
death,  373 


Anne  de  Bretagne,  tomb,  332, 
340 
tomb    of   children   at    Tours, 
340 

Anne  de  Montmorency,  402,  405 

Aqueduct  of  Arceuil,  63,  491, 
494,  503 

Arc  de  Nazareth,  482 

Arc  de  Triomphe  du  Carrousel, 
^  411,  425,  510,  542 

Arenes  de  Lutece,  61,  62 

Aries,  57 

Armagnac,  comte  d',  41,  49 

Astronomical  Column  of  Cath- 
erine de  Medicis,  483 

Auguste,  apotheosis  of,  308 

Augustus,  61 

Autun,  58 

Bacarit,  234,  397 

Ballu,  218 

Balzac,  50 

Baptiste,    see    Saint-Jean-Bap- 

tisle,  437 
Barbette,  Etienne,  452 
Barrere,  316 
Bartlett,  Paul  Wayland,  Ecjues- 

trian   statue  of  Lafayette, 

545 
Bartlett,  Truman  H.,  210,  211 
Barve,  429 
Bastille,  42,  467 
Bastille  Saint-Antoine,  447 
Baudouin  II,  296 
Bayard,  chevalier,  374 
Beauharnais,      Alexandre      dc, 

504 


.5.59 


560 


INDEX 


JV'jiulieu,  Geoffrey  de,  311 

Beaumarchais,  391 

Beauvais,  Pierre  de,  468 

Bedford,  Duke  of,  4G1 

Bel  Her,  Catherine,  468 

Bergeret,  545 

Beruin,  chevalier,  397 

Berruier,  Philippe,  298 

Berry,  due  de,  461 

Bertiiier,  424 

Bethune,    Maximilian    de,    see 

Sully,  472 
Biard  de,  423 
Biard,  Pierre,  516 
Bibliotheque    Nationale    Maza- 
rine, 32,  43,  58,  101,  212, 

308,  468 
Bibliotheque    Sainte-Genevieve, 

184 
Bigoine,  Pierre,  343 
Birague,    Rene    de,    statue    by 

Pilon,  470 
Biron,  marechal  de,  47 
Biscornette,  147 
Blanche  de  Castille,  41,  96,  302, 

306,  453 
Blois,  chateau  de,  50 
Boileau,  Nicolas,  214 

tomb,  302 
Bois  de  Boulogne,  549 
Bois  de  Vincennes,  549 
Bonnard,  174 
Bontemps,    Pierre,    335,    343, 

344,  363 
Bordeaux,  57 
Bosio,  425 
Bouchardon,  540 
Bouehet,  Jehan,  52 
Bouillard,  dom,  192 
Boulevard  de  Magenta,  549 
Boulevard  de  Sebastopol,  549 
Boulevard  de  Strasbourg,  549 
Boulevard     du    Montpamasse, 

549 


Boulevard  du  Palais,  104,  299, 

549 
Boulevard  Haussmann,  549 
Boulevard  Henri  IV,  74,  338, 

453,  454 
Boulevard    Saint-Germain,    71, 

73,  166,  208,  245,  549 
Boulevard  Saint-Michel,  54,  71, 

549 
Bourbon,  cardinal  de,  211 
Bourbon  Monarchs,  352 
Bourbon  Vault,  318,  321 
Bourges,  Jean  de,  343 
Bourgogne,  due  de,  337 
Bourlet,  frcre  Jacques,  213 
Bourse  de  Commerce,  483 
Bouteiller,  Jehan,  162 
Brandon,  Charles,  Duke  of  Suf- 
folk, 65,  372,  374 
Bran  tome,  451 
Breze,  eomte  de,  452 
Brissot,  48 
Brosse,  Jean  de,  491 
Brosse,   Salomon  de,  362,  456, 

491,  492,  508 
Bruant,  Liberal,  536 
Buch,  captal  de,  309 
Buei,  Simon  Matiffas  de,  effisrv, 

153 
monument,  113 
Buister,  Philippe,  183 
Bullant,       Jean,      361,      411, 

429 
Burgundy,  Duke  of,  452 
Buttes-Chaumont,  549 

Cabinet  du  Roi,  431,  441 
Caesar  Borgia,  371 
Calvin,  John,  223 
Capetien  Dynasty,  38,  87 
Carlovingien  Dynasty,  270,  278, 

319 
Carnavalet,  Madame,  476 
Carpeaux,   Jean-Baptiste,   429, 

531 


INDEX 


561 


Carpeaux,     Jean-Baptiste     La 

Da  use,  549 
Caserne  de  la  Cite,  105 
Caserne  des  Celestins,  453 
Casimir,  king  of  Poland,  mau- 
soleum, 213 
Casimir  V,  of  Poland,  191 
Castellan,  Oliver  and  Louis  de, 

tomb,  213 
Cathedral  of  Amiens,  75 
Cathedral  of  Arras,  159 
Cathedral  of  Bayeux,  128 
Cathedral  of  Bourges,  75,  118 
Cathedral  of  Chartres,  75,  113, 

118,  143 
Cathedral  of  Comminges,  128 
Cathedral  of  Laon,  128 
Cathedral  of  Le  Mans,  75 
Cathedral  of  Lyon,  118 
Cathedral  of  Rheims,  75,  113, 

118, 128 
Cathedral  of  Rouen,  75 
Cathedral  of  Saint-Bcryin,  128 
Cathedral  of  Tours,  340 
Catherine   de  Medieis,  34,  49, 
222,    280,    283,    345,    34G, 
350,    365,    370,    382,    398, 
400,    401,    402,    405,   408, 
410,  411,  4G2,  483,  485^ 
recumbent  statue,  335,  347 
tomb,  335,  340,  345 
Catulle,  274 
Cavelier,  429 

Ceinture  de  Saint-Eloy,  94 
Cellini,  Benvenuto,  370,  432 
Nymph     of     Fontainebleau, 
"438 
Chalgrin,  542 

Chambige,  Pierre,  382,  405,  429 
Champ  de  Mars,  69 
Champ  Elysees,  378,  535,  539, 

542.  545 
Chantrel,  Jacques,  343 
Chapelle    d'Orleans,    338,    453, 
454 


Chapelle  des  Valois,  280,  345, 

349,  350,  351 
Chapel  of  the  Filles  du   Cal- 

vaire,  506 
Chardin,  363 

Charlemagne,    140,    144,    221, 
278,  279,  319,  349 
archaic  statue,  245 
statue,  89, 132 
Charles  I  of  England,  498,  502 
collection,  441,  442 
portrait  by  Van  Dyck,  445 
Charles  II,   king   of  Navarre, 

869 
Charles  II,  le  Chauve,  recum- 
bent statue,  322 
Charles  II  of  England,  504 
Charles  V,  37,  38,  42, 165,  336, 
338,    369,   447,   448,    453, 
456,  457 
gfofvjp    "453 

Charles  Vl,  41,  160,  301,  336, 

448,  456,  457,  461 
Charles  VII,  223,  457,  461 
Charles    VIII,   302,   309,   360, 

370,  371,  461,  525 
tomb,  322 
tomb   of   children   at    Tours, 

340 
Charles  IX,  350,  382,  405,  410, 

462 
baleonv,  406,  415 
Charles  X,  313,  353 
Charles  de  Bourbon,  191 
Charles  due  d'Orleans.  339 

recumbent  statue,  339 
Charles     Ferdinand      d'Artois, 

due  de  Berry,  353 
Charles     of    Luxembourg,    see 

Charles-Quint,  372 
Charles-Quint,  370,  377 
Charlotte  Corday,  48 
Cbaslus,  Pierre  de,  520 
Chateaubriand,  238 
Chateau  d'Amboise,  364,  430 


562 


INDEX 


Chateau  d'Aney-Ie-Frane,  430 
Chateau    d'Anet,    fagade,    323 

386,  438 
Chateau  d'Azay-le-Rideau,  364, 

430 
Chateau  d'Ecouen,  391 
Chateau  d'Usse,  430 
Chateau  de  Blois,  364,  365,  430, 

496 
Chateau     de     Chambord,     364, 

365,  366 
Chateau  de  Cbantilly,  481 
Chateau  de  Chaumont,  405 
Chateau    de    Chenonceau,    364, 

365,  386,  405,  430 
Chateau  de  Coulommiers,  491 
Chateau     de     Gaillon,    fagade, 

323,  340,  430 
Chateau  de  Grignan,  484 
Chateau  de  la  Ferte-Milon,  336 
Chateau     de    Maisons    Lafitte, 

430 
Chateau  de  Moneeaux,  491 
Chateau  de  Pierrefonds,  336 
Chateau  de  Plessis,  364 
Chateau  de  Tanlay,  430 
Chateau  de  A^aux,  430 
Chateau  de  Verneuil,  430 
Chateau    de    Versailles     (old), 

430 
Chateau  de  Vincennes,  38 
Chateau  of  Rambouillet,  345 
Chateau  Vauvert,  505,  531 
Chaumette,  chief  mafristrate  of 

tlie  Commune,  122 
Chemin  de  Montmartre,  250 
Chenillon.  119 
Childebert.  76,  83,  85,  88,  166, 

185,    191,    193,    195,    221, 
368,  456 
gifts    to    Saint-Germain-des- 

Pres,  191 
statue,  209 
tomb.  201,  235 
Childebert   and   Clotaire,   mur- 


der of  their  nephews,  169, 
193 
Siege  of  Saragossa,  192 
Childerie,  77,  79,  173 
Chilperic       and       Fredegonde, 
tomb,  199 
tomb,  201 
Christ  in  the  Garden  of  Olives 

by  Delacroix,  470 
Cimabue,  290 

Cimetiere  de  la  Madeleine.  353 
Cimetiere  des  Innocents,  408 
Cimetiere   Pere   Lachaise,   173, 

217,  240,  257 
Claude  de  France,  372 
marriage,  373 
recumbent  statue,  344 
tomb,  332,  340,  344 
Clodoald     (Saint-Cloud),    171, 

246 
Clodomir,  83,  84 
Clotaire,  83,  84 
Clotaire  II  and  Bertrude,  tomb, 

199 
Clotilde,  79,  80,  83,  169,  172, 

196 
Clouet,  Jean,  363 
Clouet,  Jehannet,  363 

portraits  of  Francjois  I.  438 
Clovis,  76,   77,  78,  79.   80,  83, 
97,  98,  166,  169,  172,  179, 
185,  196,  269,  513 
baptized,  82 

converted  to  Christianity,  81 
death  of,  83 
tomb,  182,  325,  326 
Colbert,  441,  442 
Colignv,    Admiral,     222,    399, 

400 
Colonne  Vendome,  545 
Column     of     Anne     de    Mont- 
morency, 338 
Column    of    Francois    II,    335, 

338 
Column  of  Henri  III,  335 


INDEX 


563 


Column  of   Timoleon  de  Bris- 

sae,  338 
Comedie  Frangaise,  62 
Commune,  42,  122,  412,  546 
Coneiergerie,    29,    44,    49,    50, 

51 
Concile  de  Paris,  86 
Concini,  495 
Concordat,  284 
Concorde,  Place  de  la,  50 
Conde,   the    Grand,    statue    by 

Sarazin,  470 
Confrerie  des  Bourgeois,  447 
Conservatoire  des  Arts  et  Me- 
tiers, 217,  260,  261 
Constantius  Chlorus,  54,  60 
Consulate,  445,  505 
Convent  des  Celestins,  316,  338, 

453 
Convent  des  Cordeliers,  316 
Convent  des  Jacobins,  316 
Convent  des   Visitandines,  471 
Corneille,  401 
Correggfio,  Antiope,  445 

Mystic    Marriage     of    Saint 

Catherine,  445 
Corrozet,  481 
Cortot,  464 

Corvat,  Crudities,  160,  515 
Cosimo  III,  254 
Council  of  Orleans,  97 
Council  of  Trente,  475 
Courbet,  Gustave,  546 
Cour  de  Harlay,  41 
Cour  des  Tuileries.  411 
Cour  du  Mai,  41,  49,  50 
Cousin,  Jean,  338,  363,  518 
Coustou,  537 
Coustou,  Jeune,  470 
Coustou,  Guillaume,  213 
Coustou,    Guillaume     (Coustou 

Jenne),  155 
Coustou,  Nicolas,  152,  155 
Coyzevox,  537 
Coyzevox,  Antoine,  155,  532 


Coyzevox,  Antoine,  statue  of 
Louis  XIV,  480,  481 

Crevelli,  Luorezia,  437 

Ci'omwell,  504 

Crown  of  Thorns,  297,  299, 
305,  307 


Dagobert,    94,    191,    269,    276, 
278,  329,  349 

tomb,  325,  327,  329,  330 
Damiens,  38,  455 
Dan  ton,  48,  505 
David,  505 
Dechaume,    Geoffry,    119,    131, 

301 
Delacroix,  Eugene,  416 

Christ     in     the     Garden     of 
Olives,  470 
Delaure,  61 
Delorme,  Marion,  468 
Delorme,    Philibert,    335,    343, 

345,  361,  411,  412,429 
Derand,  Frangois,  469 
Descartes,  Rene,  214,  260 

monument  to,  183 
Desengives,  Nicolas,  519 
Desmoulins,  Camille,  48,  504 
Diane  de  Poitiers,  37,  177,  365, 
385,  405,  409,  438,  452 

monogram,  482 

statue  by  Goujon,  386 
Diane  of  Jean  Goujon,  177 
Diepenbeck,  499 
Directorate,  445,  461,  505 
Doctrovee,  195 
Dodon,    abbot   of    Saint-Denis, 

284 
Douglas,  James,  tomb,  213 
Douglas,  William,  tomb,  213 
Duban,  313,  426 
Dubarry,  Madame,  48 
Dubois,  Ambroisc.  423 
Dubois,  Paul,  153 


564 


INDEX 


Dubreul,  Jacques  (pere  Du- 
breul),  103,  182,  204 

Du  Cerceau,  J-A,  472,  491 

Du  Cerceau,  Jaeques-Androuet, 
34,  412,  429,  462 

Duchesse  de  Valentinous,  see 
Diane  de  Poitiers,  402 

Duguesclin,  319,  322 

Dumont,  Auguste,  429 

Dui^aty,  404 

Duplessis,  159 

Diipuis,  astronomer,  122 

Durand,  Guillaume,  128 

Durot,  429 

Duval,  530 

Ecole  de  Medicine,  507 

Ecole  des  Beaux-Arts,  180,  270, 

325,  386 
Ecole  des  Mines,  507 
Edict  of  Nantes,  480 
Eglise  de  la  Sorbonne,  527 
Eglise  de  la  Visitation,  471 
Eglise     des     Blanes-Manteaux, 

95 
Eglise  des  Capucines,  159 
Eglise  des  Celestins,  335,  453, 

454 
Eglise  des  Innocents,  392,  394 
Eglise  des   Saints-Apotres,  see 

Sainte-Genevieve,  166 
Eglise    Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, 

250 
Eglise  Notre-Dame-des-Cbamps, 

273 
Eglise     Saint-Andre-des-Arts, 

186 
Eglise  Saint-Bartbelemy,  104 
Eglise  Saint-Benoit,  274 
Eglise  Saint-Cbristopbe,  98 
Eglise  Saint-Croix,  95 
Eglise     Saint-Denis,     86,     111, 

113,    118,    128,    132,    150, 

200,    201,    253,    263,    269, 

308,  362,  452 


Eglise  Saint-Denis,  Cour  Neuve, 
explosion,  287 
de-la-Cbartre,  103,  104,  274 
du-Pas,  101,  274 
portrait  statues  of  tlie  doors, 

285 
royal  remains,  353 
Royal  Vault,  350,  351,  352, 

353 
tbe  crypt,  349 
tbe  {vlass,  287 
tbe  tombs,  314 
Eglise  Saint-Eloy,  96 
Eglise    Saint-Etienne,    85,    88, 
101 
ecclesia  senior,  140 
Senoir  Ecclesia,  86 
Eglise     Saint-Etienne-du-Mont, 

153,  169,  178,  362,  510 
Eglise  Saint-Eustaebe,  250 
Eglise      Sainte-Genevieve,     83, 
107,    173,    196,    214,    514 
517 
-des-Ardente,  105,  107 
Eglise      Saint-Germain-de-Cba- 

ronne,  173,  217,  240,  259 
Eglise    Saint-Germain-des-Pres, 
36,    76,    84,   95,    173,    183, 
185,    218,    237,    275,    316, 
325,  326 
dedication,  funeral  of  Cbilde- 
bert,   kings    of    Paris    and 
princes  interred  tliere,  tbe 
sbrine    of    Saint-Germain, 
196 
portrait  statues  of  tbe  poreb, 
207 
Eglise     Saint-Germain-l'Auxer- 
rois,  36,  37,  102.  173,  186, 
217,  249,  378,  400,  510 
rood-loft,  391,  397 
rood-loft — illustrious  dead  in- 
terred tbere,  234 
Eglise   Saint-Germain-le-Vieux, 
95,  96 


INDEX 


565 


Eglise  Saint-Gervais,  455,  456, 

468,  491 
Eglise  Saint-Gilles,  105 
Eglise     Saint-Jean     et     Saint- 

Frangois,  256 
Eglise   Saint-Jean-Baptiste,   95 
Eglise     Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, 

73,    100,    217,    239,    241, 

243 
Eglise  Saint-Landrv,  102 
Eglise  Saint-Leu,  105 
Ei^lise        Saint-Louis-des-Inva- 

lides,  532 
Egjlise  Saint-Maclou,  at  Rouen, 

381,  386 
Eglise  Sainte-Magdelene,  104 
Eglise  Sainte-Marine,  102 
Eglise  Saint-Martial,  96 
Eglise      Saint-  Martin  -  des  - 

Champs,    217,    240,    260, 

270,  291 
Eglise  Saint-Medard,  240 
Eglise  Saint-Merri,  240 
Eglise  Saint-Michel,  104 
Eglise  Saint-Nicolas,  105,  298 
Eglise     Saint-  Nicolas  -  des  - 

Champs,  240 
Eglise    Saint-Nicolas-du-Palais, 

33 
Eglise  Saint-Paul,  34 
Eglise     Saint-Paul     et     Saint- 
Louis,  354,  469,  474,  527, 

529 
Eslise   Saint-Pierre-aux-Boeufs, 

102,  248 
Eglise       Saint-Pierre-de-Mont- 

martre,  217,  240,  250,  275 
Eglise    Saint-Pierre    et    Saint- 
Paul,  83 
Eglise  Saint-Pierre,  see  Sainte- 

Genevieve,  166 
Eglise  Saint-Roch,  527,  531 
Eglise  Saint-Severin,  105,  239, 

241,  245,  246 
Eglise  Saint-Sulpice,  510 


Eglise  Saint-Vincent  et  Sainte- 
Croix,  see  Saint-Germain- 
des-Pres,  84,  166 

Eglise  Val-de-Grace,  510,  527, 
529,  530,  532,  537 

Elisabeth,  d'Autriche,  410 

Elisabeth  de  France,  462,  463 

Elisabeth,  Madame,  48 

Enguerrand  de  Coucy,  369 

Enguerrand  de  Marigny,  369 

Espignole,  537 

Essars,  Antoine  des,  160 

Etampes,  eomte  d',  448 

Etoile,  378 

Eudes  Clement,  286 

Eudes,  count,  38 

Eudes  de  Chateaureau,  298 

Eudes,  king,  203 

Eugenie,  Empress,  419 

Eusabe,  bishop  of  Paris,  194 

Eveche,  90,  91,  106 
Episcopal  Palace,  89 
its  destruction,  108 

Evelyn,  John,  35,  494 

Faubourg  Saint-Germain,  467, 

491,  536 
Fayau,  deputy,  518 
Ferdinand  III,  504 
Ferrand,     comte     de     Flandre, 

368 
Fesch,  cardinal,  424 
Filles  du  Calvaire,  506 
First  Empire,  445 
Flandrin,  Hippolyte,  215,  219 
Florent  d'Argouges.  476 
Fontaine  de  I'Observatoire,  508, 

531 
Fontaine  des  Innocents,  392 
Fontaine  Medicis.  508 
Fontainebleau,   361,    363,   376, 

430,  438 
school,  432 
Fortunat.  84,  88,  192 
Fosse,  Herman  de  la,  102 


566 


INDEX 


Foueliier,  Eobert,  301 
Fouquet,  Jean,  363 
Fovatier,  429 

Frar-ois  I,  47,  51,  65,  68,  319, 
340,    345,    360,    361,    365, 
367,    370,    375,    376,    377, 
378,    385,    386,    397,    409 
410,    431,    437,    452,    461, 
514  _ 
collection,  432 
collection  of  paintings,  438 
recumbent  statue,  343 
tomb,  332,  340,  343 
urn,  335,  345 
Francois  II,  350,  402 

marriage    to    Mary     Stuart, 
405 
Francois       d'Angouleme,       see 

Frangois  I,  372 
Francois,  prince  de  Conde,  191 
Francois  d'Orleans-Longucville, 

191 
Fredcgonde,  49,  277 

tomb,  199,  326 
Fremiet,  Emmanuel,  532 
Fromanger,  119 
Fronde,  480 

Galmel,  540 

Galba,  61 

Galigiii,  Eleanore,  495 

Galles,  Bastien,  343 

Gare  de  Lyon,  73 

Garlande,  Etienue  de,  86 

Garnier,  Charles,  549 

Gaston  d'Orleans,  51,  496,  503 

Gaston  de  France,  see  Gaston 

d'Orleans,  470 
Gaussel,  Jean,  223 
Geoffrey  Plantaganet,  111 
Giorgione,  442 

Fete  Cliani]ietre,  445 

TJoh/  Famihi,  445 
Girardon,  213,  537 
Girardon,  Francois,  528 


Girondistes,  48 
Godefroy,  92 
Gondebaud,  79,  80 
Gondi,  Jean  Francois   de,  car- 
dinal   de    Retz,    abbot    of 

Saint-Denis,  284 
Gondi,  Monseignicur  de,  95,  100 
Gondioche,  king  of  Burgundy, 

79 
Goujon,   Jean,   233,   235,   343, 

363,    381,    423,    472,    475, 

476,  479,  482 
sculpture  at  Carnavalet,  481 
Goustou,    Guillaume,   Les    Che- 

vaux  de  21arlij,  542 
Grand'Chambre  of  Parliament, 

47 
Grand  Cliatelet,  53,  164,  165 
Grand  Palais,  549 
Grand  Pont,  42 
Gregoire  de  Tours,  78,  80,  85, 

143,  166,  192,  276 
Greuze,  3()3 

Guerin,  Gilles,  419,  423,  480 
Guilhermv,  M.  F.  de,  108,  117, 

124,    147,    150,    200,    284, 

301,  304,  331 
Guillaume,  Eugene,  429 
Guillaume  de  Melun,  457 
Guise,  Due  de,  222 
Guise,  ducliesse  de,  503 
Guise,  dues  de,  405 
Guy  de  Flandre,  369 


Halle  au  Ble,  483 

Halle  aux  Vins,  107 

Hal  les  Centrales,  250,  394 

Hardi,  Jean,  455 

Harvourt,  General  d',  monu- 
ment, 153 

ITaussmann,  Georges  Eugene, 
546 

Hauteville,  Jean  de,  63 

Hebert,  48 


INDEX 


567 


Helgaud,  221 
Heun  I,  87,  2(31 
Heuri  II,  37, 177,  270,  280,  350, 
365,    3(39,    370,    378,    381, 
385,    38(3,    302,    397,    398, 
401,    402,    409,    410,    438, 
4(31,  475,  482,  483 
bust  by  Pilon,  391 
monogram,  482 
recumbent  statue,  335,  34G 
tomb,  335,  340,  345 
wounded     by     Montgomery, 
462 
Henri  III,  34,  350,   410,  471, 

476 
Henri  IV,  31,  32,  33,  34,  38, 
191,    214,    318,    322,    350, 
352,    353,    397,    400,    420, 
455,    458,    462,    469,    472, 
485,  536 
assassination,  393 
cadaver,  320,  321 
effigy  in  wax,  401 
extends  the  Louvre  and  Tui- 

leries,  412 
marriage    to    Marguerite    de 

Valois,  399 
statue,  32,  546 
Henri  V,  conite  de  Cliambord, 

364 
Henri  VIII,  of  England,  371 
Henri    de    Bour])on,   statue   by 

Sarazin,  470 
Henri,  due  de  Kohan,  338 
Henri    of   Navarre,   see   Henri 

IV,  399 
Henriet,  Claude,  518 
Henrietta    Maria    of    England, 

469 
Henriette  de  France,  498 
Henry  II,  of  England,  111 
Henry  IV,  237,  254 

of  England,  41 
Henry  V  of  England,  461 
Heraclius,  111 


Hilduin,  abbot  of  Saint-Denis, 

252,  274 
Holy  Family,  438 
Honorious,  505 

Hopital  de  la  Cbarite,  503,  531 
Hopilal   des   Enfauts   Trouves, 

106 
Hotel  Barbette,  336,  451,  452 
Hotel  Carnavalet,  391,  474,  510, 

519 
Hotel  Crillon,  540 
H6tel  d'Estomesnil,  448 
Hotel  de  Beauvais,  468 
Hotel  de  Boissy,  471 
Hotel  de  Cluny,  64,  65,  66,  67, 

88,  374,  457,  458,  510,  519, 

520 
Hotel  de  Mayenne,  472 
Hotel  de  Sens,  448,  457,  458, 

520 
Hotel  de  Sully,  472,  474 
Hotel  de  Ville,  238,  391,  455, 

480,  481,  549 
Hotel  des  Invalides,  535,  536 
HOtel-Dieu,  73,  89,  96,  97,  98, 

99,  100,  102,  106,  160 
Hotel    du    Petit    Luxembourg, 

495 
Hotel  Isabeau,  41 
Hotel  Lambert,  74 
Hotel  Lauzun,  74 
Hotel    of     Cardinal    Mazarin, 

468 
Hotel  of  the  cardinal  de  Bour- 
bon, 469 
Hotel  Pute-y-Muee,  448 
Hotel  Saint-Pol,  42,  336,  370- 

447,  448,  451,  457,  461 
House    of   Bourbon,   270,   350, 

485 
House  of   Orleans,  tomb,  335, 

340 
tomb,  and  Anne  de  Bretagne, 

339 
tomb  of,  452,  453 


568 


INDEX 


House  of  Valois,  270,  280 
Hugo,  Victor,  4(38,  470 
Huguenots,  399,  400 
Hugues  IV,  2(J2 
Huguc's   Capet,  104,  191,  261, 

270 
Hugues  of  Issy,  abbe,  210 

He  Saint-Louis,  73,  74 
Hie  de  la  Cite,  29,  31,  33,  38, 
73,  76,  164,  240,  250,  378, 
482 
Institut    de    France,    32,    510, 
532 
dome,  529 
Invalides,  322,  510 
dome,  529 
PlOtel  des,  536,  550 
Isabeau  de  Baviere,  336,  451, 

452 
Isabelle  de  Hainaut,  111 
Isle  aux  Treilles,  33 
Isle  de  Bussy,  34 
Isle  des  Juifs,  33 
Isle  du  Passcur  aux  Vacbes,  34 


Jean  Goujon,  177 
Jean  le  Bon,  222,  447,  453,  457 
Jean  II,  due  d'Alengon,  369 
Jean  IV,  due  de  Bretagne,  369 
Jeanne  d'Arc,  457,  458 
Jeanne  d'Evreux,  213 
Jeanne  de  Bourbon,  statue,  453 
Jeban  de  Cbelles,  112 
Jesus  and  Sainte-Anne,  437 
Joconde      (by      Leonardo      da 

Vinci),  432 
Joinville,  Jean  Sir  de,  36 
Joinville,  prince  de,  538 
Jordaens,  Jacques,  499 
Jouffroy,  429 
Jouvenet,  537 
Julian  the  Apostate,  36,  54,  57, 

58,  67,  87 
Juliani,  Guillaume,  308 
Julius  Caesar,  53 
Juste,  Antoine,  340 
Juste,  Jean,  340 
Juste,  Jean  and  Antoine,  341 

Kernevenoy,  Frangois  de,  475 


Jabacb,  of  Cologne,  collection, 

441 
Jacquerie,  222 
Jacques  d'Amboise,  520 

abbot  of  Cluny,  64 
Jaley,  429 

James  V  of  Scotland,  65 
Jandun,  Jean  de,  303 
Jardin  des  Plantes,  322 
Jardin  du  Luxembourg,  59,  61 
Javogues,  320 
Jean  de  Bourbon,  520 

abbot  of  Cluny,  64 

tomb,  453 
Jean  de  Conflans,  447 
Jean  de  Grailly,  309 
Jean   de   Paris,   archdeacon   of 
Soissons,  113 


La  Belle  Ferronniere,  437 

Labrouste,  184 

Lafayette,     equestrian     statue, 

545 
La  Fontaine,  393 
La  Fosse,  Charles  de,  537 
La  Grange,  Jacqueline  de,  124 
Lamartine,  254,  319,  321 
La  Rochefoucauld,  cardinal  de, 

182,  184 
Lassus,  301,  313 
Last  Supper   (by  Leonardo  da 

Vinci ) ,  432 
Lauzun,  de,  503 
Lavasseur,  Nicolas,  519 
Lebeuf,  abbe,  85,  101,  140,  221, 

258 
Lebrun,  528 


INDEX 


569 


Lebrun,  Charles,  23G,  416,  426, 

441,  446,  528 
Leduc,  Gabriel,  530 
Lemercier,   Jacques,    381,   420, 

423,  527,  530 
Lemont,  Frangois-Frederie,  54G 
Leniuet,  Pierre,  530 
Lenoir,  Albert,  255 
Leonir,    Alexandre,    181,    204, 

213,    287,    316,    322,    324, 

331,    345,    386,    431,    445, 

528 
Lenotre,  412,  508,  539 
Leon  de  Lustigan,  tomb,  454 
Leonardo    da    Vinci,   375,   432, 

442 
Lepreuee,  Enguerrand,  518 
Lequino,  317 
Leseot,   Pierre,   233,   361,   381, 

429,  475,  476,  482 
Le  Tellier,  cardinal,  184 
Levieil,  Pierre,  150 
Life    of    Saint-Bruno,    by    Le- 

sueur,  506 
Ligneris,  Jacques  de,  475 
Lintlaer,  35 

Lion  of  the  Palais,  481 
Longueville  obelisk,  338 
Lorenzo  de  Medicis,  401,  438 
Lorraine,  Madame  de,  407 

princes,  405 
Louis  VI,  279 
Louis  VI  le  Gros,  41,  253,  279, 

297,  368,  394 
Louis  VII,  105,  146 
Louis  VII  le  Jeune,  41,  75,  87, 

278,  279 
Louis   XI,   98,   364,   370,   455, 

461 
Louis  IX  (Saint-Louis),  107 
Louis  XI,  oratory,  310 
Louis  XII,  41,  47,  48,  335,  338, 

339,    340,    360,    365,    370, 

371,  372,  374,  461 
death,  374 


Louis  XII,  marries  Marie  d'An- 
gletcrre,  374 
recumbent  statue,  345 
tomb,  332,  339,  340,  342 
Louis  XIII,  32,  33,  47,  51,  65, 
106,    130,    154,    301,    319, 
321,    351,    401,    406,    420, 
463,    469,    470,    471,    486, 
494,  515,  529,  531 
equestrian  statue,  464 
heart,  354,  470 
statue,  471 

statue   in   Notre-Dame,   155, 
159 
Louis  XIV,  47,  124,  152,  154, 
191,   215,    227,    254,    283, 
321,    351,    353,    376,    401, 
412,    423,    431,    442,    467, 
469,    471,    504,    528,    529, 
530,  535,  539,  540 
collection  of  paintings,  441 
Leart,  354,  470 
statue  by  Antoine  Coyzevox, 

480 
statue  by  Girardon,  545 
Louis   XV,   38,   47,   169,    178, 
283,    321,    351,    352,    393, 
424,    455,    506,    539,    540, 
541 
Louis  XVI,  353,  424,  542 
Louis  XVIII,  66,  269,  313,  325, 

352,  504,  532,  546 
Louis,   comte    d'Artois,   recum- 
bent statue,  331 
Louis  de  Flandre,  369 
Louis,  due  d'Orleans,  336,  337, 
451,  452 
recumbent  statue,  340 
Louis  le  Jeune,  111 
Louis-Philippe,   287,  288,   301, 

313,  353,  539,  546 
Louise  de  la  Favette,  471 
Louise  de  Savoie,  370,  371,  372, 

410 
Louise  de  Vaudemont,  34,  410 


570 


INDEX 


Louvre,  58,  68,  313,  3G1,  370, 
430 
aneiennes    Salles    du    Musee 

des  Souverain,  410 
and     Tuilcries,     bound     to- 
gether, 415 
Chateau  du,  38 
facade  Frangois  I,  3G2,  420, 

423 
facade  Henri  IV,  415,  423 
Galerie  d'Apollon,  410,  42G 
Musoe  du,  177, 179,  209,  215, 

324 
Miisil  du,  204 
of  Visconti  and  Lefuel,  426 
Palais  du,  31,  34,  35,  42,  218, 
222,    223,    234,    238,    336, 
367,    369,    376,    377,    447, 
479,  510 
PaLais,    fagade    Frangois    I, 

378 
Porte  Jean  Goujon,  415 
Salle     des     Cariatides,     369, 

385,  398,  401 
Salle  Rubens,  429 
sculptors  of,  429 
the  court  completed,  420 
vieux,    366,    367,    368,    370, 
381 
Lutece,  see  Lutetia,  76,  164 
Lutetia,  53,  54,  57,  91,  164 
Luxembourg,  Frangois  de,  due 

de  Piney,  491 
Luxembourg,  Jardin  du,  505 
Luxembourg  Palace,  420,  510 
Palais  du,  60,  361,  429,  485 
Lyon,  57 
Lycee  Henri  IV,  169,  183 


Mabillon,  Jean,  214 
Madame  de  Montespan,  191 
Madame  Roland,  48 
Madame  Roland's  House,  32 
Madeleine,  510,  540 


Mademoiselle,  daughter  of  Gas- 
ton d'Orleans,  503 

Maillard,  Mademoiselle,  159 

Maintenon,  Madame  de,  283, 
540 

Malesherbes,  48 

Malherbe,  35,  503 

Mamasa,  61 

Mansart,  Jules-Hardouin,  537 

Mansart,  Frangois,  471,  476, 
530,  536 

Marais,  34,  256,  336,  354,  370, 
447,  474,  527,  529 

Marcel,  Etienne,  222,  447 

Marche  aux  Innocents,  394 

Marguerite  d'Artois,  recumbent 
statue,  331,  332 

Marguerite  de  Valois,  322,  399, 
406,    410,    412,    437,    458, 
491,  515 
portraits,  515 

Marguerite    de   Provence,   por- 
trait     statue      at     Notre- 
Dame,  148 
tomb,  322 

Marguerite  Louise  d'Orleans, 
254 

Marie-Antoinette,  48,  49,  321, 
353,  541 

Marie  d'Angleterre,  65,  371 

Marie-Therese  d'Autriche,  124 

Marie  de  Beauvilliers,  254 

Marie  de  Medicis,  174,  346,  347, 
350,  351,  353,  362,  412, 
420,  423,  476,  485,  515, 
528 

Marie  Therese,  469 

Marochetti,  230 

Marseilles,  57 

Marsv,  215 

Martin,  503 

Martin,  Henri,  362,  378 

Mary  Stuart,  405 

Masie,  Henri  de,  41 


INDEX 


571 


Mathieu  de  Vendome,  286 
Maugiron,  de,  34 
Mauleon,  Thomas  de,  210 
Maurice  de  Sully,  75,  87,  91, 

94,  99,  110,  111,  139,  146 
Mazarin,     cardinal,    419,    441, 

529,  532 
collection,  445 
tomb,  532 
Mereier,  Antonin,  429 
Mereier,  Francois,  236 
Merovee,  77,  193 
Merovingien    Dynasty,   38,   66, 

76,  77,  78,  80,  82,  104, 143, 

456 
Messaline,  49 
Metezeau,  Louis,  412 
Metezeau,  Thibaut,  405 
Michu,  518 
Mignard,     fresco      ai;     Val-le- 

Grace,  530 
Millet,  Aime,  429 
Ministre  de  la  Marine,  540 
Moliere,  401 
Monsieur,     see    Louis    XVIII, 

504 
Montaigu,  Jean  de,  123 
Montereau,  Pierre  de,  209,  210, 

266,    292,    298,    299,    301, 

304,  311 
Montfaueon,   Bernard  de,  143, 

182,  202,  214 
Montgomery,  Earl  of,  37,  462 
Montmartre,  70,  252,  274 
Montmorency,  abbess,  48 
Montmorency,  IMadame  de,  254 
Morard,  abbe,  200,  203 
Morant,  322 
More,  Ludoyie  le,  437 
Moret,  abbe  Gerard  de,  210 
Mounier,  Jean,  519 
Musee  Carnavalet,  35,  58,  474 
Musee  de   Cluny,  58,   67,  144, 

151,  206,  210,  338,  507 
Musee  des  Archives,  256 


Musee  des  Petits-Augustins, 
119,  182,  213,  214,  270, 
287,  316,  322,  3_24,  432 

Musee  du  Louvre,  3/6,  386,  391, 
397,  431,  506 

Musee  Napoleon,  445 

Nancy,  de,  407 
Nantilde,  tomb,  329 
Napoleon  Bonaparte,  322,  352, 
353,    376,    424,    431,    504, 
505,    532,    539,    540,    542, 
545,  546 
commands  completion  of  the 

Louvre,  425 
married  to  Josephine,  424 
statue  by  Chaudet,  546 
statue  by  Seurre,  546 
tomb,  535,  537 
Napoleon   III,   218,    353,   539, 
546 
completes  the  Louvre,  426 
'Naumaehie,  La,  283 
Neufville,  Nicolas  de,  370 
Ney,  marechal,  statue,  532 
Nimes,  57 

Noailles,  cardinal  de,  100 
Noailles,  marechal  de,  48 
Norman  Invasions,  38,  86,  200, 

203,  211,  221,  246 
Notre-Dame,  29,  30,  59,  89,  90, 
98,  99,  101,  104,  107,  192, 
227,  241,  245,  259,  275, 
279,  284,  289,  301,  308, 
368,  400,  510 
composed    of    two    churches, 

85 
et  seq.,  69,  110 
interior,  et  seq.,  149 
le  portail,  117 
painters  of  the  choir,  156 
sculpture  of  the  choir,  155 
the  bells,  123 
the  choir,  471 
the  choir-screen,  161 


572 


INDEX 


Notre-Dame,   the   choir,   trans- 
formation, 154 

the  doors,  et  seq.,  127 

tlie  glass,  290 

the  treasure,  153 
Nova  Ecclesia,  87 

Observatoire,  505,  50G,  507 
Obstal,  Gerard  Von,  479 
Odeon,  507 

Odette  de  Champdivers,  451 
Opera,  549 

Oratory      Saint-Andreol,      see 
Saint-Andre-des-Arts,  186 
Orleanistes,  48 

Pagerie,  Josephine  de  la,  504 

Pajou,  392 

Palais,  33,  36,  37,  38,  41,  42, 

49,  50,  54,  58,  63,  94,  96, 

104,    210,    240,    297,    298, 

312,  448 
Palais  Bourbon,  540 
Palais  de  Justice,   31,  42,   87, 

291,  482 
Palais  des  Thermes,  38,  54,  58, 

59,  63,  64,  65,  66,  67,  83, 

164,  166,  494,  520 
Palais   des   Tournelles,   37,   42, 

370,    377,    401,    451,    457, 

461,  462,  472,  485 
Palais  du  Senat,  505 
Palais,    Gallo-Roman    remains, 

44 
Palais    Royal,    467,    495,    527, 

529 
Palaiseau,  189 
Palma  Veecliio,  442 
Pantheon,    61,    166,    ICO,    174, 

178,  507,  508,  510,  513 
Pare  Marceau,  549 
Pare  Monceau,  200 
Paris,  legend  of,  52 
Parisii,  53 


Parliament,  33,  42,  48,  92,  47 
Pascal,  517 

Pepin,  140,  144,  278,  279,  319 
gift     to     Saint-Germain-des- 
Pres,  189 
Percier  and  Fontaine,  425 
Peres  Chartreux,  506 
Periez,  Frangois,  519 
Perraud,  429 
Perrault,  Claude,  423 
Perret,  Ambroise,  343 
Petit  Chatelet,  164,  165 
Petit  Palais,  305,  549 
Petit  Pont,  57,  76,  91,  92,  96, 

98,  100,  164,  189 
Pharamond,  geneology,  52 
Philip  II  of  Spain,  462 
Philippe  I,  183,  261 
Philippe  IV  of  Spain,  504 
Philippe   Auguste,   41,  42,   63, 
96,  104,  105,  107,  111,  112, 
139,    146,    223,    295,    367, 
378,  394 
wall  of,  24 
Philippe  d'Orleans,  280 
recumbent  statue,  339 
Pliilip]:)e  de  Chabot,  338 
Philippe  de  Champaigne,  503 
Philippe  de  France,  529 
Philippe  de   Villette,  abbot  of 

Saint-Denis,  94 
Philippe  Egalite,  see  Philippe 

d'Orleans,  283 
Philippe  le  Bel,  41,  44,  308,  452 

equestrian  statue,  160 
Philippe  le  Hardi,  280,  286 
Philippeaux,  505 
Pierre  d'Orgemont,  461 
Pierre    de    Chains,    abbot    of 

Cluny,  63 
Pierre  de  Nemours,  112 
Pierre  de  Pille  de  Villemur,  222 
Pierre   le   Venerable,   abbot  of 

Clunv,  253 
Pigallcj  540 


INDEX 


573 


Pigalle,  J.  B.,  153 
Piganiol  de  la  Force,  232 
Pilon,  Germain,  li7,  257,  313, 

335,    338,    343,    345,    346, 

362,  363,  470 
Madonna,  470 

sculpture  at  Carnavalet,  481 
Pinaigrier,  518 

Piombi,  Sebastiano  del,  Visita- 
tion, 438 
Pitti,  Palace,  412,  491 
Place  Daupbine,  31,  32,  464 
Place  de  Greve,  455,  518 
Place  de  I'Ecole,  221,  222 
Place  de  I'Hotel  de  Ville,  455 
Place  de  la  Bastille,  471 
Place  de  la  Concorde,  378,  412, 

510,  539,  540 
Place  des  Victoires,  535 
Place  des  Vosges,  37,  462,  467, 

472,  510 
Place  du  Carrousel,  378,  535 
Place  du  Chatelet,  250 
Place  du  Pantbeon,  184 
Pbnce  du  Parvis,  71,  88,  89,  90, 

101,  106 
Place  du  Petit  Pont,  165 
Place  Louis  XV,  see  Place  de 

la  Concorde,  540 
Place  Maubert,  166,  169 
Place    Royale,    see    Place    des 

Vosges,  462 
Place     Saint-Germain-des-Pres, 

208 
Place  Saint-Michel,  71 
Place  Vauban,  536 
Place  Vendome,  159,  535,  545, 

546 
Poirier,  dom,  212,  318,  319,  321 
Poissant,  423 

Pompadour,  Madame  de,  393 
Ponce,  Paul,  454,  479 
Pont-Alexandre  III,  549 
Pont  au  Change,  57 
Pont  au  Double,  169 


Pont   aux   Oiseaux,  see  Grand 

Pont,  42 
Pont  de  la  Cite,  71 
Pont  des  Arts,  31 
Pont  des  Pleurs,  see  Pont-Neuf, 

34 
Pont  du  Carrousel,  29,  415 
Pont-Neuf,  29,  32,  33,  34,  03, 

103,  412,  546 
Pont  Ptoval,  411 
Pont  Sully,  73 
Pope  Alexander  III,  75,  111 
Pope  Alexander  VI,  371 
Pope  Clement  VII,  100 
Pope  Eugenius  III,  253 
Pope  Gregoire  XV,  106 
Pope  Innocent  II,  102 
Pope  Pius  VII,  424 
Pope  Urbain  VIII,  515 
Porte  Saint-Antoine,  391,  447 
Porte  Saint-Denis,  535 
Porte  Saint-Martin,  535 
Porte  Saint-Pol,  4-18 
Porte  Rouge  (Notrc-Dame),  00 
Prat,  Antoine  de,  100 
Pre'aux  Clercs,  186, 190 
Prefecture    de   Police,    42,    96, 

105 
Prieur,    Barthelemv,   363,   382, 

405 
Primaticcio,  363,  365,  375,  376, 

385,  432 
Priory  of  Saint-Elov,  94,  95 
Priory     of      Saint-Martin-des- 

Champs,     the      Refectory, 

266 
Provence,  comte  de,  see  Louis 

XVIII,  504 
Prudentius,    Bishop    of    Paris, 

76,  84 

Quai  d'Anjou,  74 
Quai  d'Orleans,  74 
Quai  de  Bethnne,  74 
Quai  de  Bourbon,  74 


574 


INDEX 


Quai  de  I'Horloge,  36,  43 
(^uai  de  Montbello,  72 
Quai  des  Grands- Augustins,  34 
Quai  des  Tuileries,  415,  426 
Quai  du  Louvre,  415 
Quai  du  Marcbe-Neuf,  96 
Quartier  Saint-Jaeques,  61 
Queen  Margot,  see  Marguerite 

de  Valois,  514 
Quelus,  34,  471 

Rachel,  468 

Kacine,  517 

Kaoul   d'Oetouville,   337 

Raphael,  442 

Belle  Jardiniere,  438 
Portrait  of  Count  Balthazar 

Castiglione,  445 
Saint  George  with  the  Drag- 
on, 445 
Saint  Michael  with  the  Drag- 
on,  4r45 

Piavaillae,  38,  393,  455,  469 

Ravy,  Jehan,  162 

Reign  of  Terror,  49,  254,  316, 

431,  504 
Remi,  bishop  of  Rheims,  82 
Rene  d'Orleans,  338 
Revolution,  49,  181,  243,  261, 
458 
at  Anet,  386 
at  Carnavalet,  484 
at  Chambord,  366 
at  Eglise  8aint-Paul  et  Saint- 
Louis,  470 
at  Hotel  de  Cluny,  65 
at  Montraartre,  254,  257 
at  Musee  du  Louvre,  431 
at  Notre-Dame,  114,  118,  121, 

153,  159 
at  Place  de  la  Concorde,  541 
at  Place  des  Vosges,  464 
at  Pont-Neuf,  35 
at  Saint-Denis.  269,  283,  287, 
314,  344,  352 


Revolution    at    Saint-Germain- 
des-Pres,    200,     201,    206, 
214 
at     St.     Martin-des-Cbanips, 

260 
at  Sainte-Cbapelle,  301,  304, 

308,  312 
ct  Sainte-Genevieve,  184,  517 
at  Square  des  Innocents,  394 
at  the  Luxembourg,  504 
at  tlie  Palais,  48 
lie  de  la  Cite,  95,  102,  103, 

104,  105,  106,  108 
statue  of  Louis  XIV,  481 
cardinal,  nioiiunieiit,  323,  528 
Renaud  de  Corbeil,  113 
Richelieu,  531 

Richelieu,    cardinal,    263,    381, 
420,    4(i4,    468,    4()9,    471, 
479,  495,  496,  527,  528 
Robert,    conite    d'Artois,    297, 

305,  306 
Robert  do  Clermont,  447 
Robert  de  la  Ferte-Milon,  174 
Robert  of  Auxerre,  75 
Robert    II,   le   Pieux,   98,   203, 

221,  505 
Robespierre,  48,  505 
Ronsard,  La  Franciade,  53 
Rosso,  363,  375 
Eoi-soleil,  see  Louis  XIV,  535 
Route  d'Orleans,  91,  164 
Rubens,  decorations  for  Palais 

du  Luxembourg,  493,  496 
Rul)ens,  Peter  Paul,  496 

decorations  for  Luxembourg 
Palace,  349 
Rude,  Francois,  429,  532,  542 
Rue  aux  Feves,  94 
Rue  Bonaparte,  208,  211 
Rue  Cardinal,  212 
Rue   Castiglione,  545 
Rue  Clotilde,  169 
Rue  Clovis.  169.  178,  183 
Rue  Colombier,  208 


INDEX 


575 


Rue   Culture    Sainte-Catlierine, 

Rue  de  Beam,  462 

Rue  de  Betizy,  222 

Rue  de  Bi-etague,  4(J2 

Rue  de  Harlay,  3.} 

Rue  de  I'Abbave,  209,  210,  211 

Rue  de  I'Ecbaude,  208 

Rue  de  I'Hotel  de  Ville,  45G 

Rue  de  la  Barillerie,  94,  104 

Rue  de  la  Calande,  94 

Rue  de  la  Cite,  96 

Rue  de  la  Feronnerie,  393 

Rue  de  la  Monnaie,  36 

Rue    de    la    Montague    Sainte- 

Genevieve,  169,  513 
Rue  de  la  Pelleterie,  104 
Rue  de  la  Procession,  253 
Rue  de  la  Vieille  Draperie,  94 
Rue  de  Lutece,  42,  94,  96 
Rue  de  Medieis,  508 
Rue  de  Rennes,  208,  211,  549 
Rue  de   Rivoli,  423,   469,  545, 

549 
Rue  de  Sevigne,  474,  481 
Rue  de  Sommerard,  520 
Rue  de  Tournon,  485 
Rue  de  Turbi^o,  549 
Rue  de  Vaugirard,  492,  506 
Rue  des  Fosses  Saint-Germain, 

222 
Rue  des  Francs-Bourgeois,  451, 

452,  455,  474,  482 
Rue  des  Halles,  250 
Rue  des  Martyrs,  251 
Rue  des  Tournelles,  402 
Rue  des  Tuileries,  411 
Rue  du  Bac,  411 
Rue  du  Chat-qui-Pecbe,  246 
Rue  du  Chevet,  102 
Rue  du  Cloitre  Notre-Dame,  90 
Rue  du  Figuier,  457 
Rue  du  Pare  Royal,  462 
Rue  FranQois  Miron,  468,  409 
Rue  Furstemberg,  210 


Rue  Galande,  71,  241 

Rue  Jacob,  208 

Rue  Lafayette,  549 

Rue  Lagrange,  169 

Rue  Monge,  61 

Rue  Mont-Cenis,  253 

Rue  Neuve  Notre-Danic,  107 

Rue  Pierre  Lescot,  394 

Rue   Royale,  540,  541 

Rue  Rustique,  253 

Rue    Saint-Autoine,    463,    469, 

472 
Rue  Saint-Benoit,  208 
Rue  Saint-Denis,  253,  255,  392 
Rue  Saint-Eleuthere.  252,  255 
Rue  Saint-Jacques,  57,  91,  530 
Rue  Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre,  72, 

245 
Rue  Saint-Martin,  240,  262 
Rue       Saint-Pierre-aux-Ba^ufs, 

102 
Rue     Saint-Severin,     71,     246, 

247 
Rue  Saint-Victor,  62 
Rue  Sainte-Marguerite,  208 
Rue  Saintonge,  402 
Rue  Sevigne,  484 
Rue  Soufflot,  61,  507 
Rue  Val-le-Grace,  531 
Rue  Vertbois,  262 
Rue  Vieille  du  Temple,  451 
Rue  Zacherie,  246 
Rully,  Philippe  de,  tomb,  302 


Sacre  Coeur,  251,  510 

Saint    Bartholomew,    Masi::aere, 

37,  222,  236,  400,  406 
Saint-Bernard,  abbot  of  Clair- 

vaux,  253 
Saint-Christophe,  96 

statue,  160 
Saint-Cloud,  172,  335,  424 
Saint-Denis,  magasin,  119,  132, 

210 


576 


INDEX 


Saint-Denis,  martvr,  103,  172, 
251,  273,  275,  276 
niartvr,    the    pagan    legend, 

275 
statue  by  Sarazin,  256,  355, 

356 
statue  in  Notre-Dame,  152 
Saint-Eloy,   94,   277 
Saint-Eleuthere,  273 

martyr,  252 
Saint-Francis  of  Assisi,  statue, 

224,  257 
Saint-Francois    Xavier,    statue, 

213 
Saint-Germain-des-Pres    Abba- 
tial  Palace,  211 
Virgin's    Chapel,    209,    210, 
211,  266,  298 
Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois,    the 
rood-loft,  233 
of  Auxerre,  173,  218,  259 
of  Paris,  96,  173,  186,  194, 

203,  218 
the  Bourg,  185,  189 
the  faubourg,  191 
interment,  189 
Saint-Jean-Baptiste,  La  Vierge 

aux  Backers,  432,  437 
Saint-Julien,  le  Pauvre,  242 
martyr,  242 
the  ferryman,  242 
Saint-Just,  48 
Saint-La ndrv,  96,  101 
Saint-Louis,  41,  42,  47,  51,  96, 
111,    113,    210,    240,    266, 
280,    286,    292,    295,    296, 
298,    304,    305,    307,    308, 
311,    336,    354,    369,    398, 
506,  526 
Saint-Louis  (Louis  IX),  36 
oratory,  310 

portrait     statue     at     Notre- 
Dame,  147 
skull,  308,  309 


Saint-Martial,    bishop    of    Li- 
moges, 94 
Saint-Maur,  abbots  of,  448 
Saint-Michael  and  the  Dragon 

(large),  438 
Saint  Peter's  dome,  529 
Saint-Rustique,     martyr,     252, 

273 
Saint-Severin,  102 
Sainte-Aure,  94 
Sainte-Chapelle,  30,  38,  47,  51, 
104,    128,    154,    209,    210, 
214,    240,    241,    266,    291, 
336,  510 
the  glass,  288,  296,  305 
the  treasure,  308 
the  relics,  295,  297,  307,  308 
Sainte-Genevieve,  169, 172,  173, 
218,  259,  276 
Mont,  54,  61,  485,  525 
shrine,  174,  516,  518 
statue,  180 
Sainte-Marie-l'Egyptienne,   225 

statue,  224 
Sainte-Marine,  102,  103 
Salcede,  Nicolas  de,  455 
Salle  d'Egahte,  48 
Samaritaine,  La,' 35 
Saragossa,  Siege  of,  192 
Sarazin,  Jacques,  256,  423,  470 
Sarto,  Andrea  del,  432 

Charite,  437 
Sauval,  90,  494 
Schut,  C,  499 
Second  Empire,  426 
Seurre,  Gabriel-Bernard,  546 
Sevigne,  Madame  de,  468,  474, 

483 
Sibour,     Monseignieur     statue, 

153 
Simart,  429 
Simon,  abbe,  209 
Sire    de    Barbazan,    recumbent 
statue,  322 


INDEX 


577 


Sommerard,  du,  65,  66 
Sorbonne,    54,    323,    507,    510, 

520,  526,  532 
dome,  529 
Sorbonne,  Robert  de,  526 
Soufflot,  Jacques-Germain,  131, 

147 
Soulavie,  394 

S(|uare  des  Innocents,  394 
Steinheil,  268 
Suger,  abbe,  86,  146,  150,  263, 

279,    284,    286,    288,    289, 

322.  325 
Sully,  463,  472,  515 
Syagrius,  78 
Sylvestre,  Louis,  268 

Talleyrand,  424 
Temple  of  Cbarenton,  491 
Temple  of  Isis,  195,  275 
Temple  of  Reason,  159,  283 
Temple  Sainte-Marie,  470 
Temple  to  Bacchus,  275,  276 
Temple  to  Jupiter,  58,  59,  275 
Temple  to  Mercury,  275 
Teniers  of  England,  collection, 

442 
Thibaut,  Jean,  213 
Thierry,  80,  83,  84 
Three     Graces,     by     Germain 

Pilon,  338 
Thou,  de,  Jacques-Auguste,  400 
Tiberius  Caesar  Augustus,  59 
Titian,  442 

Entombment,  445 

Jupiter  and  Antiope,  445 

Laura  de  Dianti,  445 

portrait  of  Francois  I,  438 
Titus,  bust,  308 
Tour  Bonbec,  38 
Tour    d'Argent,    see    Tour    de 

Montgomery,  37 
Tour    de    Cesar,    see    Tour    de 

Montgomery,  38 
Tour  de  I'Horloge,  37,  44 


Tour  de  Montgomery,  37,  38 
Tour  Eiffel,  69 
Tour  Montgomery,   49 
Tour  of  Philippe  Auguste,  366, 
368,  378 
its  guests,  368 
Tour  Saint-Jacques,  37 
Tour     Saint-Louis,     see     Tour 

Bonbec,  38 
Tour     Sainte-Genevieve,      169, 

384 
Toussaint,  131 
Tribunal  of  Commerce,  104 
Tristan  de   Salazar,  458 
Tristan  THermite,  well,  525 
Trocadero,  549 

Tuileries,    343,    361,    370,    371, 
378,    405,    410,    411,    424, 
430,  431,  467.  485 
Jardin  des,  508 
Palais,  317 
Palais  du,  35,  223 
Turenne,  319,  321 

University  of  Paris,  507 

Val-de-Grace,  Hopital   de,   240 
Valentine  de  Milan,  recumbent 

statue,  339 
Valois.  House  of,  38,  42 
Vancleve,  159 
Van  Dyck,  436,  442 
Van  Egmont,  499 
Van  Thulden.  499 
Vaucanson,  Jacques  de,  261  | 

Vendome,  322 
Vendome,  Renaud  de.  98 
Ventadour,  Madame  de,  47 
Verneuil,  Henri  de,  191 
Veronese,  Paolo,  442 

Marriafje  of  Cana,  446 
Versailles,  324,  424.   431.   441, 

541 
Vevin,  comte  du,  191 
Victoire  de  France,  353 


578 


INDEX 


Victor  Hugo,  112 
Vinci,  see  Leonardo,  432 
Viollet-le-Duc,     44,     117,     118, 

124,    127,    131,    132,    267, 

292,  313,  325,  329 
Virgin,  statue  by  Pi  Ion,  313 
statue,     from     Saint-Martin- 

des-Cliamps,  331 
with  Infant,  437 
Visconti  and  Lefuel,  426 


Visconti,  Jeune,  538 
Voltaire,  504 
Volusian,  61 
Vos.  Simon  de,  499 

Wall  of  PhilipiJe  Auguste,  64, 

72,  368,  485 
Walls  of  Charles  V,  369,  485, 

535 
Watteau,  363 


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